Ben Ark

Ben Ark – Mixed Media Artist based in Salford

Ben’s style deliberately slips from precise photorealistic detail to less defined washes of colour. He uses a balance of detail, symmetry and movement to create artworks largely featuring contemporary landscapes and urban culture in the North West of England.

Whilst his work is often highly representational, made for visual appeal, he aims to encourage thought about the rich and varied life of a city and stimulate conversation about how we exist within, alongside and sometimes in the face of, a landscape and the secrets that it holds. There is a deeper statement being made about society’s regular ability to ignore the breath-taking beauty of the world around it. Speaking through his work, he aims to continue a conversation that other artists began and encourage the viewer to take pleasure in and undertake a deeper appreciation of the beauty of everyday life.

The creation of his artwork uses traditional painting techniques alongside technology. Most pieces are created using acrylic paint, watercolour, ink, digital mixed media collage (merging hand painted areas and elements of digital photographs), pigment prints, resins, gels and pastes on wooden art panels.

His work has featured in the “Days Like These” exhibition held at the Lowry Art Gallery in Salford sitting alongside the work of other Salford artists including L.S. Lowry and The Wales Contemporary, held in Pembrokeshire during 2020.

Ben’s work has featured in many national exhibitions including as part of the New Light Art Prize which celebrates the best in contemporary northern art. The exhibition toured the country during 2020 and 2021. Ben was both happy and humbled to have been successfully shortlisted from over 2,000 applicants in the exhibition’s tenth anniversary year on his first time of applying. His artworks were well received by exhibition attendees, who voted for him to win the peoples choice award. This in turn led to a selective invitation, open only to artists who have previously won an award during the 10 years the New Light Art prize has been running to take part in ‘Northern Lights – New Light, a ten year retrospective’ in March 2022.

The year 2022 was particularly successful for Ben Ark. Ben was awarded First Prize at The Open [3] exhibition held at Salford Museum and Art Gallery in September 2022. This biennial exhibition was on display for 3 months in the stunning North Gallery. Entry was open to all artists working in any medium who live, work, study or were born in Salford. It was a real honour for Ben to win this prestigious award in his home city.

In November, two of Ben’s works were chosen for display as part of the 2022 ING Discerning Eye exhibition. His works were selected from a record breaking number of applications close to 7500 entries. In addition to exhibiting at the prestigious Mall Galleries in London, Ben was delighted to be awarded the prestigious Cityscape Prize for his artworks.

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