Ben Tankard | The Lucky Country

Ben Tankard is a painter living and working in the Blue Mountains. He worked for fifteen years in a bookstore, prior to becoming a full-time artist five years ago. Books and art have been life-long obsessions and Ben often combines the two. 



The primary artistic inspiration for his works is twentieth century artist Jasper Johns, who took iconic images such as the American flag and recreated them as abstract paintings, rich with texture. Ben takes popular book covers and boardgames and recreates them on canvas in a dramatic way, with thick overlapping layers of paint, drips, splatters and splashes. This contest between the original clean designs and the expressionistic paintwork results in fresh, energetic works that also appeal to our sense of nostalgia. The paintings often have a sense of humour, incorporating new text which gives the imagery satirical or surrealistic meaning.

Ben studied Fine Arts at the University of Western Sydney and has been a finalist in the Mosman Art Prize, Sulman Prize, Calleen Art Award and the Gallipoli Art Prize, and was the winner of the 2019 Hawkesbury Art Prize.