Bio

Ben Readman is a visual artist and educator. Ben has exhibited worldwide and has completed residencies in Ireland, France, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Thailand and China. His work is held in public and private collections including the OPW, SETU, Mason Hayes & Curran, Key Capital Investment, Deutsche Bank and Petch Osathanugrah (Dib Museum of contemporary Art, Bangkok). Solo exhibitions include; Circadian, DLR Lexicon, 2016; Adaptation, Toot Yung Art Centre, Bangkok, 2014 (curator Myrtille Tibayrenc); Diaclasis, Goethe Institut, Dublin, 2012 (curator Mark Garry); Of this Earth, Rua Red, Dublin, 2011. In 2010 he won the Mourlot Prize for contemporary painting in Marseille, France and has been awarded funding by the Arts Council of Ireland and Culture Ireland. Recent group exhibitions include: Concerning the Other, An Táin Arts Centre (2019) Queen Street Gallery (2018) and Studios, Olivier Cornet Gallery (2017). As an educator, Ben has lectured fine art, visual communication, graphic design and film production in several educational institutions. He has facilitated various participatory art projects including projects funded by the CDETB, Bru Youth Services, the Dublin 12 and Ballymun Drugs Task Force and Dublin City Council. In the role of artist and facilitator, he was part of the Dublin City Council Culture Company’s Winter Lights team that won an IDI award in 2021. From 2010-2015, he was the artistic director and chairman of BLOCK T, a multi-faceted arts organisation, which housed over 100 creative practitioners, Damn Fine Print, The Darkroom, Skillsets (an extensive education programme) and two galleries. During this time BLOCK T held over five hundred exhibitions and events, and was awarded funding from the arts Council, Dublin City Council and Culture Ireland. It was also the recipient of several awards, including: The Dublin Contemporary Noone Casey Award (2011); The Dublin Living Awards Cultural Attraction of the Year (2011); The David Manley Entrepreneur Award (2013). Ben has worked as a creative director, illustrator, advisor and consultant for non-profit organisations. He has been a judge for several awards including the Arthur Guinness projects (a three million euro fund for creative projects), and the IDI Graduate Awards 2019 and 2020. He is currently the chair of the IDI Graduate Awards, on the board of Visual Artists Ireland and currently lectures in the Technological University of Dublin