Ben Sakoguchi

10 Jul-7 Sep 2025

Overview

The first institutional solo exhibition in Europe by Japanese American artist Ben Sakoguchi, whose acerbic painting style melds elements of figuration, history, and Pop to critique Western cultural values and idealism.

At Gasworks, Sakoguchi will present a new series of paintings titled Critical Art Theory, which reflect on the version of art history he was first introduced to whilst studying at UCLA in the late 1950s. The series explores how religion, monarchy and capitalism have shaped the development of art over the centuries.

Gasworks’ Exhibitions programme are supported by Catherine Petitgas, Gasworks Exhibitions Supporters and Arts Council England. With thanks to Jacqueline Tarquinio.

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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).