Education
2003 School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois, M.F.A., Sculpture
2000 Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine, B.A. with high honors, Visual Arts
1998 School of Visual Arts, New York, New York
Public Art & Commissions
2019
Methodist Le Bonheur Hospital, Installation, Memphis, Tennessee (forthcoming)
Ocean Bow, Outdoor Sculpture, Quoque, New York (forthcoming)
2018
Emergence, Private Commission, Outdoor Installation, Hudson, New York
Crosstown Arts Theater, Wall Sculpture/Acoustical Treatment, Memphis, Tennessee
Hyatt Regency Atlanta, Wall Sculpture, Atlanta, Georgia
2017
Overton Park Old Forest Entry Portal, Sculpture, Memphis, Tennessee
Kimpton Everly Hotel, Sculpture, Hollywood, California
Kirkland & Ellis Law, Wall Sculpture, San Francisco, California
2016
Eastman Chemical, Wall Sculpture, Kingsport, Tennessee
West Cancer Center, Sculpture, Memphis, Tennessee
2014
Loews Chicago Hotel, Sculpture, Chicago, Illinois
2013
Hyatt Regency Chicago, Sculpture and Mural, Chicago, Illinois
Music City Center, Drawing, Nashville, Tennessee
2010
Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, Sculpture, Memphis, Tennessee
2008
John Deere Corporation, Wall Sculpture, Moline, Illinois
Recent Solo Exhibitions
2019
John Davis Gallery, Hudson, New York (forthcoming)
2017
John Davis Gallery, Hudson, New York
Vertebrates, Baum Gallery, University of Central Arkansas, Conway, Arkansas
Variations on Growth, Foothills Art Center, Golden, Colorado
2016
Exchange, Heritage Plaza, Houston, Texas
2015
Intervals and Disturbances, University of Mississippi Museum, Oxford, Mississippi
Sculpture and Drawings, Fairbanks Gallery, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon
Unbounded, Rice Gallery, Houston, Texas
Elegy to the Disappearance of Objects, Turchin Center for Visual Arts, Boone, North Carolina
2014
Cloud Morphology, Crosstown Arts, Memphis, Tennessee
2013
Propagation, Davidson Galleries, Seattle, Washington
2011
Allen Priebe Gallery, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, Oshkosh, Wisconsin
Limits of the Mind, Coleman Burke Gallery, New York, New York
On Growth, Clough-Hanson Gallery, Memphis, Tennessee
Selected Recent Group Exhibitions
2017
Charting Terrain: A Confluence of Light and Form, Walton Arts Center, Fayetteville, Arkansas
2016
Artists Choose Artists, Parrish Art Museum, Watermill, New York
American Academy of Arts and Letters Invitational Exhibition, New York, New York
2015
Quogue Gallery, Quogue, New York
John Davis Gallery, Hudson, New York
Watson McRae Gallery, Sanibel, Florida
2014
Outside / In, K. Imperial Fine Art, San Francisco, California
2013
Resplendent, University of Arkansas Fine Arts Center Gallery, Fayetteville, Arkansas
Scope, Hyde Gallery, Memphis College of Art, Memphis, Tennessee
Present Tense, Dixon Gallery and Gardens, Memphis, Tennessee
2012
Gallery Artists, Zg Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
Wood, Paper & Fiber, The Art Gallery, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland
Fractured, The Hunterdon Art Museum, Clinton, New Jersey
Material Matters, Peerless Gallery, Omaha, Nebraska
Residencies / Fellowships
2016 Crosstown Arts, Artist Residency, Memphis, Tennessee
2014 ACRE, Artist Residency, Steuben, Wisconsin
2008 Bemis Center for Contemporary Art, Artist Residency, Omaha, Nebraska
2007 Norton Island Artist Residency, Norton Island, Maine
2005 Art Omi, Artist Residency, Ghent, New York
2004 MacDowell Colony, Artist Residency, Peterborough, New Hampshire
Vermont Studio Center, Artist Residency, Johnson, Vermont
2003 Plane Space, Artist Residency, New York, New York
2001 Dorland Mountain Arts Colony, Artist Residency, Temecula, California
2000 Ucross Foundation, Artist Residency, Clearmont, Wyoming
Vermont Studio Center, Artist Residency, Johnson, Vermont
Awards
2013 Arts Memphis Individual Artist Grant
2006 Pollock-Krasner Foundation Individual Artist Grant
Video Interviews
Crosstown Arts, Studio Residency: https://vimeo.com/202668189
Crosstown Arts, Cloud Morphology Exhibition: https://vimeo.com/109279592
Rice University, Creating Unbounded: https://vimeo.com/129704958
Rice University, Unbounded Exhibition: https://vimeo.com/130815634
Bibliography
Jobe, Brian. “Studio Visit with Ben Butler,” Locate Arts: The Focus, October 2017, www.locatearts.org/the-focus/2017/studio-visit-ben-butler.
Beckenstein, Joyce. “When Artists Choose Artists,” Brooklyn Rail, December 2016, https://brooklynrail.org/2016/12/art/when-artists-choose-artists.
Stevens, Philip. “Ben Butler Deploys over 10,000 Sticks of Poplar Wood for Unbounded Installation,” DesignBoom, June 2015, www.designboom.com/art/ben-butler-unbounded-rice-university-art-gallery-houston-texas-06-20-2015.
Holmes, Taylor. “Interview with Ben Butler,” Thinc, December 2015, www.taylorholmes.com/2015/11/13/interview-with-artist-ben-butler.
Sierzputowski, Kate. “A Monumental Scaffolding of Poplar Wood at Rice Gallery by Ben Butler,” This is Colossal, July 2, 2015, www.thisiscolossal.com/2015/07/unbounded-ben-butler.
Hosmer, Katie. “Hundreds of Pieces of Stacked Wood Form Beautifully Organic Sculptures,” My Modern Met. July 17, 2014, www.mymodernmet.com/ben-butler-organic-sculptures.
Holtermann, Rose. “Ben Butler Creates “Unbounded” Installation From 10,000 Wood Sticks,” Beautiful Decay, December 22, 2014, www.beautifuldecay.com/2015/12/22/ben-butler-creates-unbounded-installation-10000-wood-sticks.
Koeppel, Fredric. “Art Review: Ben Butler – Cloud Morphology”, Commercial Appeal, October 22, 2014.
Townsend, Eileen. “Ben Butler’s Cloud Morphology at Crosstown Arts”, Memphis Flyer, October 16, 2014.
Kangas, Matthew. "Ben Butler," Visual Art Source, October 12, 2013.
Koeppel, Fredric. “Contemporary Memphis Artists on Exhibit at the Dixon,” The Commercial Appeal February 2, 2013, 6.
Koeppel, Fredric. “Best of 2011: Standout Memphis Art Shows Made Compiling List Easy,” The Commercial Appeal – Go Memphis, December 22, 2011, 4.
Caldwell, Andrew. “Another Brick in the Wall,” Memphis Flyer, April 7, 2011, 6.
Koeppel, Fredric. “Philosophy aside, ‘Growth’ blows mind,” The Commercial Appeal – Go Memphis, January 28, 2011, 9.
Artner, Alan. “In the Galleries,” Chicago Tribune, March 28, 2008, C20.