Ben Sakoguchi

Gasworks presents Critical Art Theory, the first institutional solo exhibition in Europe by Japanese American artist Ben Sakoguchi.

Ben's characteristic painting style mixes diverse elements of figuration, history painting and Pop art to critique Western cultural values and idealism. Mainly using acrylic on canvas, he reproduces and juxtaposes imagery from film posters, newspapers, comics and internet searches to reveal subtexts of discrimination, mass media exploitation and state-sanctioned violence. By turns funny, sentimental and brutal, his paintings often intertwine politics with his own biography as well as stories of famous people ranging from U.S. presidents to celebrities.

Upon graduating from high school in the late 1950s, Ben moved to Los Angeles to study art at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Over 60 years later, his studies there provide the inspiration for his solo exhibition at Gasworks. Critical Art Theory tells a different story to the version of art history that Ben was introduced to at UCLA, one which lacked reflection on art's social contexts and primarily referenced white men. Notwithstanding anachronistic references to more recent political figures and histories, the 67 paintings on display at Gasworks present a roughly chronological timeline which spans cave paintings and rock art from over 50,000 years ago to the invention of photography in the early 19th Century. Never previously exhibited, the Critical Art Theory series explores, through Ben's acerbic lens, how religion, monarchy and capitalism have shaped the development of art over the centuries.

Gasworks' Exhibitions programme is supported by Catherine Petitgas, Gasworks Exhibitions Supporters and Arts Council England. Gasworks' 2025/26 programme is generously funded by Cockayne Grants for the Arts, a Donor Advised Fund held at The Prism Charitable Trust. With thanks to Jacqueline Tarquinio.

Ben Sakoguchi (b. 1938) lives and works in Pasadena, California. After retreating from the commercial art world in the 1970s, he has presented his work in solo and group exhibitions, university art galleries, museums and non-profit spaces throughout the United States. His work has been featured in institutional surveys and group exhibitions including L.A. RAW: Abject Expressionism in Los Angeles, 1945–1980, Pasadena Museum of California Art (2012); Sub-Pop, Cardwell Jimmerson Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (2011); Made in California: Art, Image, and Identity, 1900-2000, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (2000); and The Decade Show: Frameworks of Identity in the 1980s, the New Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Hispanic Art and the Studio Museum in Harlem, New York (1990).