"Her sensitive prints convey the impression of sincerely and clearly defined artistic aims of high quality" Dolf Rieser, D.S.C.R.E. - 3.8.1970 - Brazilian Embassy Exhibition - Catalogue - London

"The Exhibition of etchings confirms one`s appreciation of Inês Benou`s technical skill as well as her highly personal form of expression. In these prints one senses a language based upon her Brazilian origins and expanded by contact with the artists of Europe". - Michael Webber - Arts Review 22.5.1971- London

"Among so many excellent printmakers these days, the work of Inês Benou stands out for special qualities of colour, texture and design. "City by Moonlight" is one of a number of works which show a wide range of feeling from the incisive line shown here to the broad, sweeping gestures in others."- Michael Webber - Arts Review 25.3.1972

“Many times Ines made use of signs which never were ornamental but were created always in function of her artistic vision. This is the case of her etching “silver” which was awarded at the Royal Academy in London. Today she abandoned the signs to arrive at a cosmic vision in which man is also present in its absence. The artist feels nature as a cosmic strength, but knows that for man there is no more place on earth which he is destroying. We find a clear example in the etching “Nature Damage” profoundly engaged as a human being with the problems of humanity, the artist transmits her message without approaching it directly, but in a universal manner, that is why her etchings are so dense in feelings. Ines Benou is not a promise today but yes a figure in the frontline of brazilian printmaking.”

Lizetta Levi A.I.C.A. 27-03-1974

"Inês Benou an artist profoundly concerned with the human being, seeking to find him in her visual expressions, from the city to the totem. Inês is an archeologist of the form, in the sense of the search of the human in between its various manifestations, which the means of communication put at our reach in these days." Jacob Klintowitz - Jornal da Tarde 5.4.1974 - São Paulo

"This former student of mine, Inês, as many others, presents her activity showing ingenuity and, what one should mostly take into consideration, the persistence to produce. Her exaltations of images are convincing, validating the "forbidden" means of the classic printmaker. P.M.Bardi - 2.3.1983 - invitation of the exhibition of the Museum of Art of São Paulo.

"Inês Benou characterizes, above all, a sensitive artist. In this exhibit the artist achieves to create clear atmospheres in the structures and the colours" Ivo Zanini - Folha de São Paulo 11.3.1983

"Inês always keeps her personal language in all her means of expression. In most cases, the artist´s theme is the exuberant nature. The impact of the emotion is very direct, but the emotion is always dominated by a very refined technique. This is a vibrant and creative exhibition which inspite of its technical and thematic variety, preserves its unity, because it transmits through each work the personality of the artist" - Lisetta Levi - Member of A.I.C.A. catalogue of the exhibition Sesc - 6.6.1984

INES BENOU, THE LYRE AND THE MINOTAUR - "Whilst a handful of artists is entangled in a labyrinth of conceptual and intellectual anguishes and struggles attempting to adjust themselves into a definition - would their language be modern or post-modern? Minimizing or maximizing? Performing or parabolic? Metaphysic or metaphoric? - it is comforting, and even becomes a relief to enter in the colorful oasis of Inês Benou . One discovers in it an especially sensitive path, where results flow from one work to the other always picking-up our attention towards a quality of beauty which knows how to gracefully suggest rather than to impose. And due to this, gradually involves us in her enchantments, demonstrating that her technical skill is at service of a search for fine harmonies, slightly touching the search of a spirituality mostly concerned in its immanence, while entirely freed of plastered doctrines. Living in syntony with the lyre of Apollo, the work of this artist passes along the labyrinths of the Minotaur." - Carlos Soulié do Amaral - 2005

“The prints, collages, watercolors and paintings of Inês Benou express sequential exercises of a sensibility committed towards an integration of color, texture and form, in a laborious research of the technical process which transforms the idealized image into the realized image. In this procedure, in a poetical manner, elements of fluency emerge, with colors and masses either exploding into pieces, or agglutinated through entanglement, seemingly reminding a time of fragmented spaces and inducing the observer to reflect on the moment in which we live - multicultural, multiracial, global, computerized and perhaps nostalgic of the lost simplicity. In the most recent works parts from the suspended printed base protrude, creating through the inflection of the light, shadows which interact on the whole, surprising webs and textures with the mobile mystery of this unexpected, seamless element. Carlos Soulié F. do Amaral - ABCA - AICA - 12.2005

“The works of Ines have playful dimension, precisely due to one of her principal characteristics of mixing techniques in different ways. Therefore, the prints as well as the watercolors, acquire the interference of collages with the purpose to create new visual effects, which mix the playfulness with the technical control. .In this context, the cosmic series obtains a creative dimension of delicate visual effects with collages interfering on the etchings. There is no compromise with the representation of reality, but with the improved practice of a pleasant dialogue with the observer. The effects obtained with the mentioned mixture of techniques, allow two successes: for the observer more acquainted with the artistic making who seeks to verify how the effects were achieved, trying to imagine the resources applied in the print of the metal plate as also the creative integrations and interferences of the collages in each work. In what concerns the watercolor, the collage gains a greater meaning of visual freedom. The lightness is a trademark with cut-outs appearing on the watercolored background without excesses, in a manner that shows that one is in the presence of an artist which believes that the learned technique exists to achieve a visual cleanliness. With exhibitions in Brasil and abroad, achieves the artistic maturity in a process of constant search to eliminate the superfluous. This means trying to reach the visual essence in each work, which appears to carry in itself the message that simplicity is the main purpose that every artist tries to achieve To attain this, the lightness is essential - and it is present in the majority of Ines`works. The progressive economy of resources proves how art from the start is made by controlling two essential elements: the form and the color. Using them, it doesn´t matter if the development of the subject is nearer to the abstract or to the concrete. - Oscar D'Ambrosio, 01 - 2006 .

“The prints of Inês Benou are the results of a conscious directive acquired during years by the artist, each time more distant from the traditional forms of painting and

ready to propose states of soul within the freedom of trace and of color.

The trajectory of this artist acquires the lightness of the chromatic fusions, subtleness of tonal selections, with a “plus” of lyricism to the taste of the enveloping nature. Through etchings with collages, her stylistic personality turns more perceptible.

The color incorporates itself outlining in sober poetry, naturalistic motifs only suggested, as if they were whispered.

An aspect that immediately imposes itself in the art of these prints is the autonomy of the technique.

The color, as if blown through the lightness of touch, appears not to wish to restrain its breathing.

Her light compositions, in soft tones, are found in an atmosphere of a dream full of poetry, leaving a bright memory of a kind of smile of a work achieved in state of grace.
The works of Inês Benou re-propose a state of soul within the freedom of trace and of color. The artist maintains her background of experiences a precious element: a primary and esoteric form found itself in the basis of all things, to which she searches to give life, in a perfect harmonic way, through an ascending movement to this essential and initially inert form. The first positive consequence is the attainment of an absolute purity of trace.

The image evolves in beauty, plenty of suggestions for the spectator and, in a particular way, to the artist herself. The prints numbers III e XIII of the “Cosmic” series, donated to the Museum of Art of the São Paulo Parliament, are the result of an intrinsic sensitivity plenty of lyrism.” – Emanuel von Lauenstein Massarani – 02-2008

" Inês Benou – Anthology

The art of printmaking fascinates me. Marcello Grassmann once said, that engraving is the "art of repentance." This is an adequate definition if one thinks that the engraver (particularly the one who works with metal matrices) often draws and redraws the copper and takes for each new phase his "proofs of state" - superb collection of originals, since they are unique engravings. I have always sought and valued such "proofs" with renewed interest, since they constitute a kind of engraved "testaments” and witnesses of the meticulous work of this professional of the arts.

In addition of being a watercolorist and painter, Ines Benou dedicates herself with care to the engraving in metal, having acquired excellent training abroad and a lot of experience here. It is a magnificent work, of subtle filigree, sought in its perfection with untiring commitment. She herself prints her engravings in her studio through an admirable effort.

With a reserved temperament, her discretion and delicacy are immediately evident upon first contact. In a certain way this is reflected in her work, which is contained and introspective. Ines is as quiet as the ambience of her studio. In the house there is a delightful garden, ideal for long conversations or moments of contemplation.

Ines Benou masters with tranquility the complex art of watercolor, which, unlike the engraving, does not allow touch-ups but also reveals the lightness of the line in subtle veils. More recently the artist has devoted herself to encaustic painting, a technique that goes back to antiquity (the Greeks and Romans used it extensively in their paintings) and which consists of the use of hot treated pigments and wax, producing the effect of translucency in clear proximity to watercolor. It can also be carried out in cold, with wax diluted in turpentine.

This exhibition is an anthology. It brings together some of the best moments of the constant work of a dedicated artist who has an interesting route and an incredible willingness to experiment, always with originality and competence. Antonio Carlos Suster Abdalla, Curator 03-2017 "

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