Ben Walker
Ben Walker, 'Jacqueline (31)', 2026, Oil on linen, 25 x 30cm
EDUCATION
2018-19 Turps Art School 2000-1 MA Fine Art, Wimbledon School of Art
1994-97 BA (Hons) Fine Art, Sheffield Hallam University
SOLO SHOWS
2025 Teatime Dystopia, Soho Revue, London 2024 Art Paris
2024, Solo presentation with Soho Revue 2023 49, PM/AM, London (on-line)
2023 Life Without God, M+B Gallery, Los Angeles
2022 Lonely Kings, Sto Lat, New York
2022 Early Colours, One Wall Gallery, Eugene, Oregon
2018 Solitudes and Seasons, CIMCOT Space, London
2015 Picture Box, Jack House Gallery, Portsmouth
SELECTED GROUP SHOWS
2025 The Lido Open, The Lido Stores, Margate 2025 A Bag Of Hope… A Box Of Tears, Terrace Gallery, London 2024 Residency Show, The Fores Project, London 2024 Group show, Dans les yeux d’Elsa, Paris 2024 Kleinformat, (2 person show), Golestani Gallery at DIANA, New York 2024 Group Show, Alexander Berggruen, New York 2023 The Forever Now, York Street Gallery, London 2023 Felix Art Fair, M+B Gallery, Los Angeles 2022 A Generous Space 2, Walsall Art Gallery, Walsall 2021 Push and the Land, Pineapple Black, Middlesborough 2021 A Space To Hold The Gaze, Liliya Gallery, London 2021 Studio Confetti, Terrace Gallery, London 2021 A Generous Space, Hastings Contemporary, Hastings 2020 Every day, Terrace Gallery, London 2019 Library music, Lewisham Arthouse, London 2019 Exceptional, Collyer Bristow, London 2019 Bloomberg New Contemporaries, Leeds Art Gallery, South London Gallery 2019 Solitudes and Seasons, The ARB, University of Cambridge, Cambridge 2018 English Dreamtime, Burley Fisher, London 2016 Artworks Open, Barbican Arts Trust, London 2014 East London Painting Prize, Sugarhouse Lane, London 2014 Hey Days, Bermondsey Project Space, London 2012 Needle’s Eye, Transition Gallery, London, Bay Art, Cardiff 2010 The Marmite Prize for Painting, Central Art Gallery, Tameside, Lanchester Gallery, Coventry, The Nunnery, London.
AWARDS
2012 Jack Hill Painting Prize (First Prize Winner)
RESIDENCIES
2024 The Fores Project, London
Source material includes long since cancelled tv programmes, vaguely recalled children’s' films, public information films, books. Some of these became deeply ingrained not just in memory but even affecting a world view as well. There were some dark and challenging programmes in that era, (1970s and 80s) with layers of interpretation and wit. Modern technology has allowed this engagement with the past, instant availability via the internet. Memories of the past have been preserved and have a continued life in the present. I think creating an image that is simple and unified can be something that stays in the mind. That kind of simplicity is linked to memorability. It even reflects the mental process of creating memory. We have to distil facts from a vast amount of information to confront the complexity of reality. This can indicate the relevance and importance of handmade paintings in this image saturated environment.
I am working on a series of paintings based on a recollection I have from when I started primary school in the North West of England. There was a small tree with a plaque with the name Jacqueline inscribed, in the school garden. Although this would have been around 1979, I still have a memory of asking who she was and being told she was a pupil who had died some years earlier. My very young mind could not comprehend that a young child could die, and it is something I have never forgotten. Some of the imagery and colours I have adapted from children’s' tv programmes and books, which gives the work a slightly playful quality, although it doesn't hide the sadness and the feelings of loss.