​​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.

 

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 was Born in Matsuyama City, Ehime Prefecture

Graduated from Osaka College of Design, Picture Book Course in 1990.

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1995 Held first solo exhibition in Matsuyama City, Japan

2006 Solo exhibition in Freiburg, Germany

2011 Solo exhibition in Taiwan

2016 Published first book of poems and drawings “Night Bird's Notebook

 

In 2024, “Universe of the Heart (the Sky)” will be published

In recent years, he has been highly acclaimed as an artist who has been attracting a lot of attention.

 

Public Collection

Ehime  Saijo Central Hospital 

Tottori  Nichinan Art Museum

Ehime  Miurat Village