(born 1976, Brooklyn, NY)’s work resembles American modern artists Stuart David and Alfred Jensen. His tightly rendered compositions are a dense and highly organized world of bodies, objects, text, and marks competing to occupy the compressed pictorial space of the canvas. One has the sense that even the air within the painted space exists as paint, and everything sharing that space is held in tension by a meticulous formal configuration of shapes and patterns. Degen clearly reveres and understands the wide range of historical precedents for his work, including Cubism, Folk Art, and artists like Picasso and Balthus. He builds on these traditions with a persistent vision that is compelling and unique.

Ben Degen has exhibited throughout the US and Europe. His work gained widespread attention during its inclusion in PS1/ MoMA’s Greater New York Exhibition in 2005. His work is in numerous private and public collections including The Museum of Modern Art in New York, NY.