Ben Ark is a contemporary landscape artist based in Salford, in the North West of England.
Ben's interest in art formed in the era when darkroom technologies, digital photography and early computers collided. These early learnings still have a presence in his arts practice to this day. His mixed media creations merge traditional painting techniques with contemporary practices such as digital painting. His works are created using acrylic paint, watercolour, ink, digital mixed media collage (merging digitised versions of hand painted areas and elements of photographs), pigment prints, gels, pastes, resins and varnishes on wooden panels.
Ben's work is distinctly his own, having created a unique style through many years of experimentation and failure, driven by a determination to learn from each experiment. Through his landscapes he looks to generate a sense of movement, time passing and a hint at a life having been lived within that landscape space. As humans, we have the ability to shape our surroundings and landscapes, similarly the landscape has the power to shape us. He hopes that his works may relight a trace memory in the viewer or spark a new perspective. They can be many different things to many different people. He enjoys watching the world around him, celebrating the everyday beauty and joy in the little things.
Ben has exhibited and sold his work around both nationally and internationally. Recent features include the “Days Like These” exhibition at the Lowry Art Gallery in Salford, sitting alongside the work of other Salford artists including L.S. Lowry. Another of his mixed media artworks was chosen to feature in The Wales Contemporary during 2020.
Ben's work was included 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. He was proud to have been successfully shortlisted from over 2,000 applicants on his first application. His artworks were well received by exhibition attendees too, who voted for him to win the peoples choice award.
The year 2022 was particularly successful for Ben. He was awarded First Prize at The Open [3] exhibition held at Salford Museum and Art Gallery in September 2022. It was a real honour for Ben to win this prestigious award in his home city. In November 2022, two of Ben's works were chosen for display as part of the ING Discerning Eye exhibition. His works were selected from a record breaking number of applications close to 7,500 entries. In addition to exhibiting at the prestigious Mall Galleries in London, Ben was delighted to be awarded the esteemed Cityscape Prize for his artwork.
In July 2023 Ben held his first solo exhibition focusing on industrial scenes of Liverpool and Manchester, which was a real success. He was also selected to display at Liverpool art fair in Summer 2023.
Ben's work is rapidly growing from strength to strength, as he gains further recognition at a national level. He is a multi award winning artist, recognised for his contemporary mixed media take on the landscape genre. Looking ahead in 2024 will see him having multiple works published in a book celebrating the landscape art of Manchester.