Ben Sloat often uses elements of the vernacular in his works; generating hybrid social meanings and reflecting the artist's multiracial Taiwanese-American background. Working across mediums, the projects frequently find themselves considering the capacity of iconography, image, or light based material, in a wide and inclusive definition of the "photographic". Cultural vocabulary is commonly used as a medium in the work, oscillating between an intimately personal voice and a larger societal one.
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Born and raised in New York City, Ben Sloat earned degrees from UC Berkeley and SMFA/Tufts. His work has been shown in venues such as the Havana Biennial (Matanzas), Radium Art Center (Busan), Kunsthal Charlottenborg (Copenhagen), Museum of Fine Arts (Boston), Dublin City Gallery/The Hugh Lane (Dublin), Peabody Essex Museum (Salem), Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (Richmond), and the Queens Museum. Solo exhibitions include those at Project Space Pilipinas (Lucban), Das Klohauschen (Munich), Steven Zevitas Gallery (Boston), Coop Gallery (Nashville), Galerie Laroche/Joncas (Montreal), Gallery 126 (Galway), Front Gallery (Oakland), and the American Cultural Center (Taipei).
He is the founding director of the MFA in Visual Arts program at Clark University in Worcester, MA.
image info: detail from "Bamboo Mother" exhibition, Project Space Pilipinas, Lucban, Philippines, 2025
BEN SLOAT 洪河
Born 1977, New York, NY
EDUCATION
2005 MFA | SMFA/Tufts University | Boston/Medford, MA
1999 BA w/honors - Peace & Conflict Studies | UC Berkeley | Berkeley, CA
1996 language training | National Taiwan Normal University | Taipei, Taiwan
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2024 - present Founding Director | MFA in Visual Arts | Clark University | Worcester, MA
- Founded program at Clark in 2024
- Featured in articles in Worcester Business Journal and Worcester Magazine
- Initiated new partnership with MASS MoCA, the largest contemporary art museum in the world
- January MFA residencies and annual thesis exhibitions hosted by MASS MoCA
- Created new educational model for MFA market, integrating academic and museum resources
- Building program towards student size of 50-60
2016 - 2024 Director | MFA in Visual Arts | Lesley University | Cambridge, MA
SELECT SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2025 Bamboo Mother ｜Project Space Pilipinas ｜Lucban, Philippines
2023 Stellar Parallax: Cape Breton ｜Galerie Laroche/Jonas, La Shed Gabarus｜Canada
Counter Monument｜Gravedigger’s Daughter｜Waldoboro, ME
2019 Come and Go｜Coop Gallery｜Nashville, TN
2018 Itinerant｜Chashama｜New York, NY
2017 The Pearls That Were His Eyes｜ Pearl River Gallery｜New York, NY
2016 Late Capital｜ Boston College - Carney Gallery｜Chestnut Hill, MA
Prisma｜ Das Klohauschen｜Munich, Germany
Disbelief ｜ Lycoming College｜Williamsport, PA
The One In The Middle Cannot See The Whole｜ Byrd Gallery｜ Augusta, GA
2013 One Blast｜ Steven Zevitas Gallery｜Boston, MA
2011 Academy of Light｜ NLH Space ｜Copenhagen, Denmark
His Eyes Were Like Mine｜Galerie Laroche/Joncas ｜Montreal, QC
2010 This Midas Earth｜ Steven Zevitas Gallery｜Boston, MA
Package from China｜ 126 Gallery｜Galway, Ireland
2009 Yellow in August｜ American Cultural Center｜Taipei, Taiwan
2008 I’m Not Like Other Guys｜ OH&T Gallery｜ Boston, MA
Death is Just a Rumor Spread by Life｜Laconia Gallery｜ Boston, MA
SELECT GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025 Movement｜Dorsky Museum of Art｜New Paltz, NY
Be The Change ｜J Arts Initiative｜Boston, MA
2024 Unfixed Concrete Ideal｜3S Artspace｜Portsmouth, NH
Environmental Coy ｜The Yard artists space｜Brooklyn, NY
2023 Unfixed Concrete Ideal｜Scollay Gallery｜Boston, MA
2022 Art & Text｜Radium Art Center ｜Busan, South Korea
Punchline ｜Jane Lombard Gallery ｜New York, NY
2021 Faculty Show ｜Roberts Gallery ｜Cambridge, MA
The Evolution of Venus｜Radium Art Center ｜Busan, South Korea
2020 20th Pingyao International Photography Festival｜Pingyao, China
Wides Awakes Boston｜Praise Shadows｜Brookline, MA
2019 Ríos Intermitentes｜13th Havana Biennial｜Matanzas, Cuba
When The Artists Take Over The Factories｜Brooklyn Army Terminal｜Brooklyn, NY
2018 In/Light｜Virginia Museum of Fine Art｜Richmond, VA
Mixed: Remixed｜Groundswell Gallery｜Brooklyn, NY
Faculty Artists ｜Berkshire Art Museum｜North Adams, MA
2017 Fuse｜Ättiksfabriken｜ Stockholm, Sweden
Absent ｜VanDernoot Gallery｜Cambridge, MA
Summer Proposal (curated by Paul Ha)｜Scollay Gallery, Boston City Hall｜Boston, MA
2015 Exposition 10ème anniversaire｜Galerie Laroche/Joncas｜Montreal, QC
Uncanny Parables｜Brown University - Cohen Gallery｜Providence, RI
Spring Exhibition｜Kunsthal Charlottenborg｜Copenhagen, Denmark
2014 In/Light ｜1708 Gallery｜Richmond, VA
Expo de Groupe｜Galerie Laroche/Joncas｜Montreal, QC
2013 Future Perfect ｜Dublin City Gallery/Hugh Lane｜Dublin, Ireland
2012 Visual Texts｜Jewett Gallery｜Wellesley College, MA
2011 Skewed Demographics｜Queens Museum of Art｜Queens, NY
Soundscapes｜Peabody Essex Museum｜Salem, MA
Mobile Home｜Griffintown Interrupted｜Montreal, QC
LECTURES/ARTIST TALKS
Vilna Shul ｜“Sparks of Hope in the Past” guest lecture｜ Boston, MA ｜ 2024
Boston University｜“Contemporary Art & the Calligraphic Gesture” visiting lecture｜ 2023
Bard College｜“Modes of Belonging” artist lecture｜Annandale-on-Hudson, NY｜ 2023
College Art Association National Conference｜“Fulbright for Artists” panelist｜Chicago, IL｜2022
Arranging Tangerines - Lydian Slater, NY ｜“A Conversation with Ben Sloat” podcast ｜2022
Area Code Art Fair ｜“Sheep Time is the Clock of our Present” artist talk ｜2020
Harvard University｜“Art & The Value Economy” visiting lecture｜ Cambridge, MA ｜ 2020
MIT｜“Professional Practices for Artists” graduate seminar lectures｜Cambridge, MA ｜ 2020
Lightbox｜“Photographic Adjacency” artist lecture｜ Taipei, Taiwan｜ 2020
Praise Shadows Art Partners｜“Art in the Time of COVID” interview ｜2020
Boston College｜“One Blast” artist lecture｜Chestnut Hill, MA｜ 2018
Lycoming College｜“Disbelief” artist lecture｜Williamsport, PA ｜2016
College of the Holy Cross｜“Grammar” panelist｜ Worcester, MA｜2015
Pace University｜“Experiments” artist lecture ｜ New York, NY｜2014
Wellesley College｜“Visual Texts” curator lecture｜Wellesley, MA｜2012
National Taipei Arts University｜“Contemporary Art in the American Experience”｜Taipei, Taiwan｜2009
National Sun Yat Sen University｜“Yellow in August” artist lecture ｜Kaohsiung, Taiwan｜2009
American Cultural Center｜“Yellow in August” artist lecture ｜Taipei, Taiwan｜2009
UC Santa Cruz｜“New Work” artist lecture｜ Santa Cruz, CA｜2009
Simmons College｜“In Depraved May” artist lecture｜ Boston, MA｜2008
Chester College｜“Fate Machine and other works” artist lecture｜Chester, NH｜2008
UC Berkeley｜“Half-Asian photo project” gallery talk｜Berkeley, CA｜2007
Massachusetts College of Art｜“New Work” artist lecture｜ Boston, MA｜2007
UMass Boston｜“Half-Asian photo project”｜Boston, MA｜2007
Savannah College of Art and Design｜“Orientalized” artist lecture｜Savannah, GA｜2007
Association for Asian American Studies Conference｜“Historical Representation of Asians in the U.S.” conference speaker｜Boston, MA｜2006
Tufts University｜“New Work” artist lecture｜Medford, MA｜2006
Coker College｜“Portraits” artist lecture｜ Hartsville, SC｜2006
Rhode Island School of Design｜“New Work” artist lecture｜ Providence, RI｜2006
Society for Photographic Education, 42nd National Conference｜“Determined Identity” conference speaker ｜ Portland, Oregon｜2005
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ARTFORUM ｜Danielle Wu｜Critics’ Pick “Punchline” ｜2022
Boston Hassle｜Jess Costello｜“Capes On, Eyes Open” ｜2020
Hypebeast｜”Over 20 Artists Join MOCA Benefit”｜2020
Asia Art Archive｜“When Artists Enter The Factories” ｜2019
Untapped Cities ｜“14 New Public Art Installations to Discover”｜2019
Excellences Magazine｜“Intermittent Rivers, Matanzas: Destiny, No Point of Passage”｜2019
Sinovision｜“The Pearls That Were His Eyes”｜2017
Williamsport Sun-Gazette ｜Jason Klose｜“Disbelief”｜ 2016
Boston Globe｜Cate McQuaid｜“Recalling the Dawn of Cubism and WWI camouflage” ｜2013
Belgo Report｜Bettina Forget ｜“Virtually Open” ｜2011
Galway Advertiser ｜Kernan Andrews｜“Communist Consumerism” ｜2010
Boston Phoenix｜Cook, Greg ｜“Head Games” ｜2010
Circa Ireland ｜Aine Phillips ｜“Package From China” ｜2010
Taipei Times｜Noah Buchan ｜“Through The Lens”｜ 2009
Boston Globe｜Cate McQuaid｜“A Pop Icon’s Many Layered Image”｜2008
Boston Globe｜Cate McQuaid ｜“Now You See It…”｜2008
Oakland Tribune｜Brenda Payton "The Whole Picture"｜2008
Hokubei News｜"Half Asian" ｜2007
East Bay Express｜Rachel Swan｜ "Mixed Doubles” ｜2007
Providence Journal｜“Photo Show at the Art Club”｜2004
Boston Herald｜Tenley Woodman ｜“The Edge”｜2004
New York Times｜Dominick Lombardi ｜ “Photo I.D.”｜2003
AsiaWeek Magazine｜Adrian Leung｜“Asianlens”｜2002
World Journal｜David Hsieh｜“Half-Asian”｜2002
Brooklyn Journal of Art｜“Up and Coming”｜2002
GRANTS/FELLOWSHIPS
Faculty Development Grant｜Lesley Art+Design｜2018, 2022
Massachusetts Cultural Council Fellowship - Painting｜2014
Alumni Traveling Fellowship｜SMFA, MFA Boston｜2012
Berwick Research Institute grant｜2011
Fulbright Faculty Grant, seven month research photo project in Taiwan｜2008-9
Ford Foundation Grant｜2008
Faculty Development Grant｜Art Institute of Boston｜2006
Yousuf Karsh Prize in Photography, SMFA｜2002
PUBLISHED ARTICLES and INTERVIEWS
Article/Interview w/Makeda Best｜American Job｜Aperture (online)｜2025
Article/Interview w/Makeda Best｜The Time is Always Now｜Aperture (online)｜2019
Book Contributor｜30 Second Photography｜Ilex Press, London｜2015
Interviewer｜Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons｜BigRed&Shiny｜2013
Interviewer｜João Ribas｜BigRed&Shiny｜2013
Interviewer｜Matthew Ritchie｜BigRed&Shiny｜2013
Essay｜State of Exception｜Aperture Magazine｜2010
Interviewer｜Chen Chieh-Jen｜BigRed&Shiny｜2010
Interviewer｜Alec Soth｜BigRed&Shiny｜2009
Interviewer｜William Christenberry｜BigRed&Shiny｜2008
Interviewer｜Larry Sultan｜AmericanSuburbX｜2008
Interviewer｜Gregory Crewdson｜BigRed&Shiny｜2008
Interviewer｜Stephen Shore｜AmericanSuburbX｜2007
Interviewer｜Andres Serrano｜BigRed&Shiny｜2008
Essay｜Shades of Brown and Yellow｜Exposure Magazine｜2006