casual ben

about ben

Since finding a life of sobriety, a re-awakening of clarity has manifested as a bloom of creation for Ben.

Ben is a self-taught artist in Minneapolis, MN, sharing his practice since 2020. Through found materials, multi-media layering, sawing and sanding, Ben's latest work examines identity by bringing playfulness to heavy conversations. Marrying bright palettes with dilapidated wood, warmth of nostalgia with the precariousness of rust, his work exudes the “sting of memory.”

Ben’s current body of work stems from bringing life to unsuspecting places. An installation in a vacant home to cap 2024, “saccharine” delved into the effect of time on what we hold, what we choose to save, to archive, to bury within. The void of a space once called “home” served as a vessel for remembering, a sanctuary for memories collected. The temporary nature of the structure was demolished in January 2025, pushing back against the necessary permanence of what we create, what we put out into the world.

Ben’s most recent project was as curator and artist for “WishList”, a group exhibition at After Hours Gallery in St. Paul, MN which opened in November and running through the end of 2025. He celebrated his first East Coast exhibition with a two-artist show, “Answers Only God Can Give”, in Baltimore, MD with Tchanna Pierre, a Boston-based painter.

EXHIBITIONS + INSTALLATIONS

“WishList” | November 2025 | Curator/Artist

Group exhibition/installation at After Hours Gallery– St. Paul, MN

“Answers Only God Can Give” | April 2025

Two-artist exhibition at Zo Gallery – Baltimore, MD

“saccharine” | December 2024

Solo exhibition/installation in vacant home – Minneapolis, MN

“Movement.” | April 2024

Two-artist exhibition at ArtSpace Jac Flats – Minneapolis, MN

“AiC at Moth” | October 2023

Group Exhibition at Moth Studio – Minneapolis, MN

“Fake Pictures of Real Things” | September 2023

Group Exhibition at Pink Slip – Minneapolis, MN

Solo Exhibition + Installation | March-August 2023

U+Me Studio – Eau Claire, WI

“Merging Layers” | September 2022

Group exhibition at Artspace Jac Flats – Minneapolis, MN

Solo Exhibition | March-July 2022

Haus Salon + Gamut Gallery – Minneapolis, MN

“Elemental” C4W:2021 | September-October 2021

Group Exhibition at Gamut Gallery – Minneapolis, MN

Solo Installation | August 2021 - Present

STEPCHLD – Minneapolis, MN

“Incautiously Optimistic” | July 2021

Group Exhibition at ArtSpace Jac Flats – Minneapolis, MN

“Up Top” Solo Exhibition | January-May 2021

Indeed Brewing Company – Minneapolis, MN