about

Benjamin Sebastian (1980 AUS/GB) is a trans-disciplinary visual artist and curator living in London (U.K.). Their work spans performance, sculpture, curation, video, text, installation, drawing, textiles & new media - rooted in processes of bricolage, assemblage, ceremony, collage & D.I.Y. cultural production.

Installation view: ‘Holding The Shadow While Calling Back The Light’ at Herbert Read Gallery - Canterbury. Image courtesy of the artist - 2024

Their touring exhibition; Holding The Shadow While Calling Back The Light, launched in September 2024 with an inaugural showing at Herbert Read Gallery (Canterbury) followed by an exhibition run at CT20 (Folkestone, 1st Nov - 1st Dec 2024). Additional exhibition dates for the 2025 tour season will be announced shortly.

Performance documentation: ‘Phoenix’ at ]performance s p a c e [ - Hackney Wick, London. Photography by Marco Berardi - 2013

Through harmonizing nonbinary perspectives along with neurodivergent cognition and decolonial practices, Sebastian’s visual art and curatorial work weave together critical research, lived experience, and speculative methodologies. This holistic approach attempts to hold space for alternative narratives & ways of remembering to emerge, while creatively engaging the present to chart pathways toward nascent futures.

Installation view: ‘Every Hole A Portal Every Piece A Bridge’ at VSSL Studio - London. Photography by Marco Berardi - 2023

In compliment to their artistic and curatorial work, Sebastian is also a founding director of both ]performance s p a c e [ - England’s only performance art specific organisation - and VSSL Studio; a gallery dedicated to the development and production of contemporary, queer artistic practice.

‘Jonny (On The Genealogy Of Morals)’. Image courtesy of the artist - 2012

Sebastian recieved their BA Fine Art HONS (1st Class) from the University of Lincoln and MA Curating Art and Public Programmes (Distinction) through Whitechapel Gallery/London Southbank University. Their continued research interests include; Artificial Intelligence, Occult Practices, Queer Ecologies, Decoloniality, Transhumanism, Contemporary Performance & Visual Art.

‘The Seemingly Innocent Are Not Without Danger’. Photography by Eda Sancakdar - 2024

Sebastian and their affiliated projects have recieved funding from Arts Council England, the British Council, Greater London Authority, Creative Folkestone, Kent County Council, Inspire Lewisham, Roger De Haan Charitable Trust and Live Art U.K. as well as other charities and local authorities.

Video still: ‘Crossing’ at ]performance s p a c e [ - Deptford, London. Image courtesy of the artist - 2014

Some of their most recent activities include: co-curating ‘Archipelago: Visions In Orbit’ at Whitechapel Gallery (15th Aug 2024 - 5th Jan 2025), performing at the launch of ‘Pretty Doomed’ at Ugly Duck (2023), a joint exhibition of Alicia Radage (2023), curating ‘FACET’ at VSSL Studio (2023).

Performance documentation: ‘Excerpt: 3 Reflections²’ at VSSL Studio - London. Photography by Marco Berardi - 2023

Additional recent activity has included: guest curating the ‘Intersect series’ at the Live Art Development Agency (2023), speaking on the symposium; ‘Art, Memory & Place’ at Turner Contemporary (2022), as well as performance of their live installation ‘3 Reflections²’ as part of FUTURERITUAL at the Institute of Contemporary Art, London (2022).

Installation view: ‘Working With Entities//Setting Intent’ at VSSL Studio - London. Image courtesy of the artist - 2021

Notable previous activity has included: curating ‘PSX: A Decade of Performance Art in the U.K.’ (2021) on behalf of ]performance s p a c e [, exhibition of their solo show ‘Working With Entities//Setting Intent’ (2021), and curation of VSSL Studio’s inaugural programme; ‘Gathering in a Time of Plague’ (2021).

‘Wood Work’. Image courtesy of the artist - 2012

A select portion of Sebastian’s exhibition history may be viewed through this link, and a comprehensive list of their curatorial projects can be viewed here. Subscription to their mailing list is through this link.

projects

VSSL Studio
- was co-founded in 2020 by Benjamin Sebastian & Joseph Morgan Schofield and activated in 2021 with the gallery’s inaugural public programme; ‘Gathering in a Time of Plague’, funded by Arts Council England and co-curated by the galleries founders. In 2023 VSSL secured its’ second Arts Council England grant to deliver; ‘FACET’, curated by Benjamin Sebastian and produced by Ash McNaughton & Mine Kaplangi.

A place of gathering and creation, VSSL is a not-for-profit artistic studio and gallery housing multiple artists and projects - a site for artistic production and engagement, dedicated to the holding and nurturing of contemporary (queer) visual art and its’ satellites.

VSSL is a queer-led organisation centering queer artistic practice.

www.vssl-studio.org

]performance s p a c e [
- was co-founded in 2011 by Benjamin Sebastian & Bean with the mission: ‘to nurture the prime conditions for performance art(ists) in the U.K.’

Sebastian continues as a founding director alongside ]ps[ associate director; Ash McNaughton.

]ps[ is regularly funded by Arts Council England, most recently in 2021 for the organisations 10th anniversary programme; ‘PSX: A Decade of Performance Art in the U.K.’.

]performance s p a c e [ is a queer led organisation that aims to:

“... nurture the prime conditions for performance art(ists) in the U.K. We are committed to supporting challenging and difficult practices that embrace performance art as an ever-evolving medium.”

www.performancespace.org

Becoming Constellation
- was initiated in 2016 by Benjamin Sebastian as an ever evolving / incompletable, transmedial artwork and exhibition.

Encompassing sigil craft, tattooing, visual art exhibition & a continually growing collaborator set; Becoming Constellation seeks to map queer narrative production across people, geographies and time. Collaborators to date include:

Fabiola Paz,
Dani de’Emilia,
Ryan Burke,
JD Melling,
Keoui Keijaun Thomas,
Alicia Radage,
Andre Braga Verissimo,
Bean,
Joseph Morgan Schofield,
Matteo Cortés,
Jade Montserrat
and Esther Neff.

becoming constellation

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