Ben Jack Nash

His story

Born in London – UK in 1978 Lives and Work in Strasbourg -France and in London – UK

Graduated from MA University of Nottingham – UKCEP Sciences-Po, Lille and FRBA Manchester Metropolitan University – UK

Ben Jack Nash is an installation artist working in smaller formats but also site specific architectural interventions and commissions. Born in North West London, 1978. He initially qualified into legal aid law representing prisoners, asylum seekers, mental health patients and others on society’s margins. Recent solo shows have been held in Germany and in France. Group shows have included the Venice Arsenale, York St. Mary’s, The Wilson Contemporary, Cheltenham and Bronden Strand Cultural Centre, Copenhagen. The significance of his practise is recognised and shown by established industry figures such as Miguel Amado (MIMA) Richard Deacon, Richard Wentworth and Yinka Shonibare. He has been selected for a number of art prizes including Arte Laguna, Aesthetica Magazine and Cologne art fair’s Bloom Award.

Installation, performance, film, writing ...

Ben Jack Nash’s varied practice spans across sculpture, installation, performance, film, writing, speaking and academia. The artworks often have a close relationship with their host space – drawing on architectural features, using outside influences to inform the object, or picking up on changes in temperature or the ambient light. They hone in on the interplay of ‘identity shifts’ when things nudge their identity from one state of existence to another. This might be with regards to the physical matter in objects, states of perception, the social and political landscape or between public and private dimensions. A particular focus is between these material and abstract states. The artist identifies these profoundly influential moments and places as spiritual and that can only be deduced through consequences or traces left behind.

Texts and writings focus on what he terms ‘triple A’ or Age of Accelerated Abstractification [sic] and often involves teaming up with other non-art based disciplines. This concerns the idea that we should use the lens of art, aesthetics and physical matter to unravel social and political phenomenon; exploring how culture, values and beliefs are closely comparable to the behavior of material, space and movement. In doing so we can connect and predict geopolitical trends that shape the future such as climate change, rises in populism, digitisation, free trade, the modern family and sectarianism… whilst linking it all up with particle physics, of course.