OFFICIAL OPENING I SATURDAY 17th of JANUARY, 5-7pm
SHOWING DATES I 17th of JANUARY until 28th of JANUARY 2026
Ben Adams is a Newcastle-based painter working primarily with abstraction. In 2004 he studied at Newcastle Art School before embarking on a career as a humanitarian photographer, documenting stories across developing countries for NGOs.
Through his photography work, Adams has developed a deep sensitivity to place, culture, and the unseen structures—spiritual, communal, and environmental—that shape human life. In 2020 he returned to painting, bringing with him a global perspective shaped by lived experience rather than formal training. Alongside his painting practice, Adams continues to work as a photographer and is currently developing a publication documenting the lives and working environments of painters.
Working from his studio in Newcastle, Adams explores materiality, memory, and the landscapes of the subconscious, balancing intuitive mark-making with considered composition. His use of oil paint and ceramics reflects an ongoing interest in process, tactility, and the physical presence of the artwork.
Adams has participated in numerous group exhibitions. He was a finalist in the 2020 Lake Art Prize, where his work was acquired by the Museum of Art and Culture (MAC), Yapang, for its permanent collection. In 2023, he was awarded the Driver’s Choice Prize at The Vincent Art Prize.
'RELIC'
Relic emerges from a long-standing impulse to collect objects while travelling—items worn by time, shaped by touch, and marked by use, many of which once held meaning within ritual or devotion. Adams is drawn to small, unassuming things that carry a sense of gravitas.
Many of the works in Relic have been nurtured over years in the studio. Layers are added, removed, and revisited in cycles, allowing time and repetition to accumulate weight and depth. The works draw upon both physical relics encountered in the world and the residue of Adams’ own past. Faith, ritual, and moral structure shaped his life for many years and continue to reverberate through his practice. While the work does not narrate this history directly, it acknowledges the lasting imprint of belief and the complexity of leaving that world behind.
Through painting, Adams asks whether art can carry a similar weight to the objects that inspire it—whether it can feel worn, sacred, and necessary. He seeks to make works that quietly occupy space, intended to remain for years or decades, carrying a sense of spirit, memory, and accumulated presence.