​​Oga Ben

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Oga Ben creates poetic worlds inhabited by animals, travelers, stars, and quiet moments of wonder. Blending painting and storytelling, the works invite viewers into imagined landscapes that feel both fantastical and strangely familiar, where nature, memory, and imagination coexist.

 

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​My Perspective 

There are artists whose work I admire, and then there are artists whose work stays with me. Oga Ben belongs to the latter.

At first glance, the paintings seem to depict distant worlds filled with stars, animals, and dreamlike landscapes. Yet what keeps drawing me back is not the fantasy itself, but the feeling behind it. Beneath the imagined settings is a quiet belief that people, places, memories, and even things we cannot fully explain are somehow connected.

I often think younger generations are searching for meaning in a world that can feel fragmented and overwhelming. Oga Ben's work does not offer simple answers, but it reminds me that wonder still matters. Perhaps that is why the paintings resonate beyond cultural boundaries. Even for viewers encountering the work for the first time, there is often a sense of recognition as if returning to a place that never existed, yet somehow feels familiar.

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Oga Ben

Instagram: @oga_blue

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Born in 1971 in Matsuyama, Ehime, Japan. Graduated from Matsuyama Minami High School's Design Department in 1989 and completed the Painting Course at Osaka College of Design in 1990.

He held his first solo exhibition in Matsuyama in 1995. In 2006, he held a solo exhibition in Freiburg, Germany, followed by an exhibition in Taiwan in 2011. He moved his studio from Matsuyama to the Kanto region in 2008, and later to Kobe in 2022.

In 2016, he published his first collection of poetry and drawings, Yagarasu no Techō (夜烏の手帳). In June 2021, he changed his artist name from Oga Fumihiro to Oga Ben. His second collection, Kokoro no Sora (こころの宇宙), was published in 2024.

 

[Selected Solo Exhibitions]

• 2022 — Solo Exhibition, Kawata Gallery, Hyogo, Japan

• 2022 — Solo Exhibition, Mizoe Art Gallery, Tokyo and Fukuoka, Japan

• 2023 — a thousand voices, GALLERY HANA SHIMOKITAZAWA, Tokyo, Japan

• 2023 — 月を探しに, Daimaru Kobe, Hyogo, Japan

• 2024 — Solo Exhibition, Kawata Gallery, Hyogo, Japan

• 2024 — Solo Exhibition, Mizoe Art Gallery, Fukuoka, Japan

• 2025 — パステル画の世界, Kawata Gallery, Hyogo, Japan

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[Awards]

• 1999 — Sculpture Forest Museum Award, Painting the Nature of Japan Exhibition

• 2001 — Grand Prize, Messages from Young Painters Exhibition

• 2002 — Scout Award, GEISAI-2

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[Public Collections]

• Saijo Central Hospital, Ehime, Japan

• Nichinan Museum of Art, Tottori, Japan

• Miurart Village, Ehime, Japan

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[Publications]

• 2016 — Yagarasu no Techō (夜烏の手帳), collection of poetry and drawings

• 2024 — Kokoro no Sora (こころの宇宙)