Ben Tankard 2026 Exhibition

13 February - 15 March 2026

Opening Night Friday 13 February 6-8pm

Ben Tankard is a contemporary pop artist based in the Blue Mountains, NSW. He graduated from the University of Western Sydney in 2000 with a Bachelor of Arts (Fine Arts) and has since exhibited widely in galleries throughout Australia. Career highlights include being a finalist in the 2012 Sulman Prize and a semi-finalist in the 2013 Doug Moran Portrait Prize.

 An avid book lover, Ben previously worked in a bookstore, where repeated exposure to the iconic orange Penguin paperback covers sparked a lasting fascination. Drawn to the visual power of these familiar designs and their ability to instantly capture attention, he began appropriating the Penguin cover format as a subject for painting. Executed through a multi-layered process, the works present warped, painterly re-imaginings of recognisable imagery.

 The Unpopular Penguin series began in 2015 which was met with immediate success. Early works in the series were deliberately minimal, replacing text with lines and dashes and employing chaotic brushwork. Over time, Tankard has alternated between more refined compositions and looser, more expressive interpretations, while retaining the essence of the original books and allowing them to evolve into something distinctly new.

his practice of reworking culturally embedded imagery has since expanded. From 2016, Tankard began appropriating visuals from classic board games such as Monopoly, Uno cards, and tarot cards, and in 2017 extended this approach to distorted interpretations of iconic album covers.

cross these bodies of work, familiarity and disruption coexist, inviting viewers to reconsider the everyday symbols that shape collective memory and popular culture.