Benjamin Work
Ha’a Lātūhifo / Shetland.
b.1979, Tāmaki Makaurau / Auckland.
Benjamin Work’s practice embodies the recent progress of Pasifika artists raised in Aotearoa on American sub/pop culture, while also exploring the complexities of contemporary cultural institutions and their relationshiop with Pacific people.
Benjamin is a core member of the international street art collective, The Most Dedicated (TMD) and the Tongan street art collective, No’o Fakataha. His initial creative output centered around sub/pop-cultural influences that emerged from North America in the 1970s -1990s. Since then, Benjamin has continued his journey of ancestral discovery and steadily developed his interests and research into aspects of Tongan history and culture. Benjamin’s practice extends across a diverse range of projects, which include large scale public murals, commercial print based media, paintings, photography and performance.
Combining an ongoing investigation into the traditional use of colour, kula (red) and `uli (black) , Ngatu (bark cloth making), Kupesi (designs and motifs) and the heliaki (semiotics) of the Povāi (ancient Tongan war clubs), his work informs a contemporary converstaion on the parallels that can be drawn between established Tongan traditions and practices, and the spiritual and social significance these have for Tongans within the contemporary Pacific diaspora of urban New Zealand.
The visual language of his work references historical narratives, iconography, symbolism, and design elements that are particular to Tongan culture, which are also firmly positioned amidst beliefs connected with Ta and Va (time and space) , Tatau (symmetry), Potupotutatau (harmony) and Faka `ofa `ofa (beauty).
Benjamin Work has exhibited in Australia, Mexico, New Zealand, North America, Rarotonga and Tonga.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS:
- 2022: To’a Motu, Bergman Gallery, Auckland.
- 2021: Hake Project – Canterbury Museum, Christchurch.
- 2018: Write it on the land, seal it on the heart – Te Tuhi Gallery, Auckland.
- 2017: Whenua Fonua ‘Enua – Malcolm Smith Gallery, Auckland.
- 2016: For King and Country, Ma’ae Tu’i moe e Fonua, Bergman Gallery, Rarotonga.
- 2016: The Glorious Children of Te Tumu, Salisbury International Arts Festival, England.
- 2016: The Glorious Children of Te Tumu, Corban Estate.
- 2015: For King and Country, Ma’ae Tu’i moe e Fonua, Mangere Arts Centre – Nga Tohu o Uenuku, Auckland.
- 2015: Toutoutā’, Olivia Laita Gallery, Onehunga, Auckland.
- 2014: I see red, I see red, I see red, FRESH Gallery, Otara, Auckland.
GROUP SHOWS/PRESENTATIONS:
- 2022: Aotearoa Art Fair, Auckland; Te Atuitanga – Between our Cloak of Stars, Bergman Gallery, Auckland.
- 2021: The Most Dedicated: An Aotearoa Graffiti Story, The Dowse Art Museum, Wellington, NZ; Life After Death – Franklin Gallery, Auckland.
- 2020: Tatou 2, The Story of Us, Bergman Gallery, Rarotonga.
- 2019: Auckland Art Fair Bergman Gallery, Auckland, NZ; Art in the dark II – Me’a’ofa Gallery, Nuku’alofa, Tonga.
- 2018: MPA#1, Bergman Gallery, Rarotonga.
- 2017: Return to Havaiki | UFO Islands, with Andy Leleisiúao, Bergman Gallery, Rarotonga; Post Graffiti Pacific – TSB Wallace Arts Trust, Auckland.
- 2016: New York’s Night Out, Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC.
- 2016: Katharsis, Calder & Lawson Gallery, August 1 – September 30.
- 2014: Post Graffiti Pacific, Ambush Gallery, Sydney, Australia; If these walls could talk, Wallace Trust, Pah Homestead, Auckland; Show room opening, Olivia Laita Gallery, Auckland; Louder, Print Group show, Studio 40, Auckland;
Tauhi Vā No’o Fakataha, FRESH Gallery Otara, Auckland; Hold your breath, Whitespace, Auckland. - 2013: Atenisi, No’o Fakataha Collective, Kingdom of Tonga.
- 2012: Matala Festival, Mangere Arts Centre – Nga Tohu o Uenuku, Auckland.
- 2011: Presence, Artstation, Auckland.
- 2010: The Miami Dream, Shed5, Auckland.
- 2009: Hecho en Mexico, Tijuana, Mexico.
STREET WORK:
- 2014: Auckland art week, commissioned mural, Fort Street, Auckland CBD. Graffiato, outdoor mural festival, Taupo CBD. I see red mural, public mural, Otara Town Centre, Auckland. All fresco, street art event, Karangahapē Road, Auckland.
- 2013: From the ground up, public mural event, Christchurch CBD. TMD x Corbans, outdoor mural, Corbans Estate Art Centre, Auckland. Graffiato, outdoor mural festival, Taupo CBD. Samoa victim support group, outdoor mural, Apia, Samoa.
- 2010: Krosswerds festival, outdoor mural, Sydney, Australia; Primary flight, outdoor mural, Art Basel, Miami, USA.
COLLECTIONS:
- TSB Wallace Arts Trust, Auckland, NZ.
- Auckland Museum, NZ.
- Welt Museum, Vienna, Austria.
- Wrightmann House, Christchurch, NZ.
ARTIST IN RESIDENCE:
- CMBB Para Site International Art Residency (PS IAR) 2019, Hong Kong.
URBAN INTERVENTIONS
- 2021 The Most Dedicated, Street Art Festival, Lower Hutt
- 2020 Papaioea Mural Festival, Palmerston North
- 2017 Graffiato Street Art Festival, Taupō
- 2016 Spanish Harlem mural, MET Outreach programme, NYC, USA; Aotea Squared, Auckland Arts Festival
- 2015 Alfresco, Cross Street Mural, Auckland
- 2014 Fort Lane Mural, Auckland Art Week
- 2012 Bradley Lane Festival, Auckland
- 2011 Life line Mural , Auckland
PUBLICATIONS
- Whenua Fonua ‘Enua 2017 Published by RIM Books, ISBN 978-0-473-41566-2
SELECTED COMMISIONS
- 2021 Motutapu II, Floor to wall mural – Canterbury Museum; Etu Pasifika Health Centre – Christchurch; The new Media Design School – Wynyard Quarter, Auckland City
- 2016 Tapa collaboration with Fauniteni o e Vai Mo’ui – Manukau Institute of Technology, Auckland
- 2015 Tu’i Tonga, Tu’i Ha’atakalaua, Tu’i Kanokupolu – 2015 – Auckland Museum
AWARDS
- 2021 Finalist – Molly Morpeth Canaday Award
ART ASSISTANT
- 2020 CULTURAL ID – Marae, Maunga, Motu, Toi tū Toi Ora – Emily Karaka
RESEARCH TRIPS
- 2020 Motutapu, Rarotonga
- 2019 Motutapu, Tonga
- 2018 Motutapu, Tāmaki Makaurau
- 2016 Tongan Oceanic collection, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
- 2015 Tongan Arts publication research, British Museum; Oxford Musuem; Vienna Welt Musuem; Museo de America – Madrid; Australian Musuem – Sydney
- 2013 Tongan Arts collective No’o Fakataha, Tongatapu
CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
- 2016 PAA International Symposium, Auckland
- 2015 Europe Pacific Arts Association Conference, Madrid
- 2013 Tongan Research Association Conference, Auckland













