Benjamin Madeska is an award-winning artist who has been included in more than 80 regional, national, and international exhibitions. His work primarily engages the traditions of still life and landscape painting with a focus on the formal qualities of the subjects. These paintings feature realistic renderings and stripped-down compositions that explore the relationship between abstraction and representation. He received his bachelor degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his master’s degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He lives and works in Chicago.
Works listed for sale include cost of shipping in the continental United States. Additional shipping charges may apply.
For sales or other inquiries, please contact me at: madeska@gmail.com
Selected Exhibitions
- 2025
- “Design & Art 16” – Dock 6 Collective, Chicago IL
Curator: Kristina Daignault - 62nd Annual Juried Competition, Masur Museum of Art, Monroe LA
Juror: Dr. Annemarie Sawkins, Art Historian and Independent Curator
- “Design & Art 16” – Dock 6 Collective, Chicago IL
- 2024
- “The Art of Culinary” – Nicolet College, Rhinelander WI
- 2023
- “Chicago Works” – Jackson Junge Gallery, Chicago IL
- “TEN by TEN” – Jackson Junge Gallery, Chicago IL
- 2022
- 35th Annual Northern National Art Competition – Nicolet College, Rhinelander WI
Juror: Robert Kanyusik, Artist - 13th Annual 10x10x10xTieton International Exhibition – Mighty Tieton, Tieton WA
Juror: Bruce Guenther, Art Historian and Independent Curator - “The Celebration of Food” – Cape Fear Studios, Fayetteville NC
Juror: Leslie Pearson, Artist - Small Matters, 2nd Biennial National Juried Exhibition – 437CO Gallery, Colorado Mesa University, Grand Junction CO
Juror: Pattie Chalmers, Head of Graduate Studies and Professor, Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Carbondale IL - 61st Mid-States Art Exhibition – Evansville Museum of Arts, History and Science, Evansville IN
Juror: Dr. Heidi A. Strobel Ph.D., Associate Dean for Academic and Student Affairs and Professor of Art History, Denton TX
- 35th Annual Northern National Art Competition – Nicolet College, Rhinelander WI
- 2021
- 13th Annual Juried Exhibition – Prince Street Gallery, New York NY
Juror: Sangram Majumdar, Professor in Painting, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD
- 13th Annual Juried Exhibition – Prince Street Gallery, New York NY
- 2019
- Modern Topologies: Gwendolyn Zabicki, Benjamin Madeska, and Adrienne Elysse Meyers – EXTRA Projects at Basic Studios, Chicago IL
Curators: Kristina Daignault and Chris Grieshaber - Summer Juried Show – Blue Mountain Gallery, New York NY
Jurors: Eric Aho, Painter; Rachel Portesi, Photographer
- Modern Topologies: Gwendolyn Zabicki, Benjamin Madeska, and Adrienne Elysse Meyers – EXTRA Projects at Basic Studios, Chicago IL
- 2018
- ART at Dovetail: Ben Madeska – Dovetail Brewery, Chicago IL (solo)
- 13th National Juried Exhibition – Axis Gallery, Sacramento CA
Juror: Lucía Sanromán, Director of Visual Arts, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco CA - Summer Juried Show – Blue Mountain Gallery, New York NY
Juror: John Yau, Poet, Critic, and Curator - Sense of Place: HERE – Galaudet Gallery, Eau Claire WI
- 3rd Annual National Invitational Art Exhibit – Conroe Art League, Conroe TX
Juror: Peter Andrew, Artist and Professor, Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches TX - 52nd Founders Juried Awards Exhibition – Naples Art Association, Naples FL
Jurors: Joan Kropf, Deputy Director and Curator of Collections, The Dali Museum, St. Petersburg FL; Olu Oguibe, Artist, Rockville CT; Frank Verpoorten, Director and Chief Curator, The Baker Museum, Naples FL - 33rd Annual International Exhibition – University of Texas at Tyler, Tyler TX
Juror: Michelle Smythe, Executive Director, K Space Contemporary, Corpus Christi TX
- 2017
- 14th Annual Regional Juried Exhibition – Freeport Art Museum, Freeport IL
Juror: Dan Addington, Artist, Owner and Director, Addington Gallery, Chicago IL - Landscapes and Seascapes Juried Show – 311 Gallery, Raleigh NC
Jurors: Linda K. Eddins, Artist; Jim Hallenbeck, Artist; Lori White, Artist - New Directions ’17, 33th Annual National Juried Contemporary Art Exhibition – Barrett Art Center, Poughkeepsie NY
Juror: Ruth Erickson, Associate Curator, Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston MA - 30th Annual Northern National Art Competition – Nicolet College, Rhinelander WI
Juror: Gary Freeburg, Duke Hall Gallery of Fine Art Director and Professor of Art, James Madison University, Harrisonburg VA - 40 Under 40 – Fort Works Art, Fort Worth TX
Juror: Maggie Adler, Associate Curator, Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth TX - Biennial Juried Exhibition – Five Points Gallery, Torrington CT
Juror: Joe Fig, Artist - Themeless, Whitdel Arts x Marygrove College – The Gallery at Marygrove College, Detroit MI
- Art for Life Chicago – Venue One, Chicago IL
- 11th Annual National Juried Exhibition – Arts & Culture Alliance, Knoxville TN
Juror: Dorothy M. Habel, Professor Emerita, School of Art, University of Tennessee, Knoxville TN - 5th Annual Invitational Exhibition “Visions 2017: Food for Thought” – High Point University, High Point NC
Juror: Greg Shelnutt, Department of Art Chair, Clemson University, Clemson SC
- 14th Annual Regional Juried Exhibition – Freeport Art Museum, Freeport IL
- 2016
- 13th Annual Regional Juried Exhibition – Freeport Art Museum, Freeport IL
Juror: Sergio Gomez, Artist, Owner and Director, Gallery 33, Chicago IL - 36th Annual Juried Competition, A Sense of Place – Gertrude Herbert Art Institute, Augusta GA
Juror: Michael Rooks, Wieland Family Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, High Museum of Art, Atlanta GA - 29th September Competition – Alexandria Museum of Art, Alexandria LA
Juror: Francis Pavy, Artist - 10x10x10xTieton – Mighty Tieton, Tieton WA
Jurors: Adam Gildar, Owner and Director, Gildar Gallery, Denver CO; Susanna Crum, Assistant Professor of Fine Art – Printmaking, Indiana University Southeast, New Albany IN; Rodolfo Salgado, Adjunct Faculty, Kentucky College of Art and Design, Louisville KY - American Landscapes – Maryland Federation of Art, Annapolis MD
Juror: Liza Key Strelka, Manager of Exhibitions, The Phillips Collection, Washington DC - Jax Juried Exhibition – Jacksonville Center for the Arts, Floyd VA
Juror: Stefanie Fedor, Executive Director, Visual Arts Center of Richmond, Richmond VA - The Thing of It Is – Washington Art Association, Washington Depot, CT
Juror: Eric Aho, Artist - City at Night – Random Acts of Gallery, Chicago IL
- Gateway to Imagination: National Juried Art Competition – Farmington Museum, Farmington NM
Juror: BettyAnn Mocek, Professor of Art and Director of the Ferguson Art Gallery, Concordia University, Chicago IL - 2016 Emerald Spring Exhibition – Emerald Art Center, Springfield OR
Juror: Barbara Jaenicke, Artist - 2016 BAAC National Juried Exhibition – Batesville Area Arts Council, Batesville AR
Juror: Joe Ford, Assistant Professor of Digital Design, Arkansas State University, Jonesboro AR - 27th Annual Juried Show – Las Vegas Contemporary Art Center, Las Vegas NV
Juror: Mary Leigh Cherry, Co-Founder, Cherry and Martin Gallery, Los Angeles CA - NEXT Up – NEXT Gallery, Denver CO
Jurors: Amber Cobb, Artist;Â Thadeaous Mighell, Executive Assistant and Business Manager, Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, Denver CO - 6th Annual Juried Exhibition – Gallery 110, Seattle WA
Juror: Melissa Feldman, Independent curator and Writer, Distinguished Visiting Faculty, Cornish College of the Arts, Seattle WA - 2016 Invitational Show – Conroe Art League, Conroe TX
Juror: Francesca Fuchs, Artist and Head of Painting Department, Glassell School of Art, Houston TX - 8th National Juried Show – Prince Street Gallery, New York NY
Juror: Graham Nickson, Artist and Dean, New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting, and Sculpture, New York NY - 5th 12×12: National Exhibition of Small-Scale Works of Art, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro TN
Juror: Armon Means, Assistant Professor of Photography, Coastal Carolina University, Conway SC
- 13th Annual Regional Juried Exhibition – Freeport Art Museum, Freeport IL
- 2015
- 5th Annual Armstrong National 2-D Exhibition – Armstrong State University, Savannah GA
Juror: David Griffin, Director of Collections and Exhibitions, Albany Museum of Art, Albany GA - 2015 Regional Juried Art Exhibition – Arts Council of Southeast Missouri, Cape Girardeau MO
Juror: James F. Wilson, Artist - 12th Annual Regional Juried Exhibition – Freeport Art Museum, Freeport IL
Juror: Dawn Wohlford-Metallo, Visual Arts Director, Quad City Arts, Rock Island IL - Small Works 2015 – Main Street Arts, Clifton Springs NY
Juror: Rebecca Rafferty, Art Critic and Writer - 93rd Annual All Media Exhibition – Ann Arbor Art Center, Ann Arbor MI
Juror: Cristen Velliky, Associate Professor of Art, University of Michigan-Flint, Flint MI - New Directions ’15, 29th Annual National Juried Contemporary Art Exhibition – Barrett Art Center, Poughkeepsie NY
Juror: Janet Bishop, Weisel Family Curator of Painting and Sculpture, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco CA - 24th Annual Juried Competition – Bowery Gallery, New York NY
Juror: Stephen Westfall, Painter, Critic, and Professor, Rutgers University, New Brunswick NJ - 2015 Biennial Quad State Exhibition – Quincy Art Center, Quincy IL
Juror: Miranda Krajniak, Executive Director, Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts, Grand Rapids MI - 26th International Juried Exhibition – Viridian Artists, New York NY
Juror: Lauren Hinkson, Curator, Solomon R Guggenheim Museum, New York NY - Logan Square Arts Festival – Chicago IL
- Michigan Fine Arts Competition – Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center, Birmingham MI
Juror: Joseph Winterhalter, Artist - A Taste of Art – The Dairy Center for the Arts, Boulder CO
- 2015 Waterloo Arts Fest Juried Exhibition – Waterloo Arts Gallery, Cleveland OH
Juror: Theresa Bembnister, Associate Curator, Akron Art Museum, Akron OH - Art by America: A Review of Two-Dimensional Contemporary Art – The Art House, Chicago IL
Jurors: James Yood, Critic and Art Educator, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago IL; Ginny Voedisch, Art Historian and Lecturer, the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago IL - 52nd Annual Juried Competition, Masur Museum of Art, Monroe LA
Juror: Sandra Firmin, Director and Chief Curator, Colorado University Art Museum, Boulder CO - You Art What You Eat. Union Street Gallery, Chicago Heights IL
Juror: Shannon Stratton, Founder and Director, Three Walls Gallery, Chicago IL
- 5th Annual Armstrong National 2-D Exhibition – Armstrong State University, Savannah GA
- 2014
- 57th Mid-States Art Exhibition – Evansville Museum of Arts, History and Science, Evansville IN
Juror: Ephraim Rubenstein, Artist and Educator, Columbia University, the National Academy of Design, and the Art Students League - Eat, Drink, and Be Merry – Jackson Junge Gallery, Chicago IL
- New Directions ’14, 28th Annual National Juried Contemporary Art Exhibition – Barrett Art Center, Poughkeepsie NY
Juror: Lynne Warren, Curator, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Chicago IL - 27th September Competition – Alexandria Museum of Art, Alexandria LA
Juror: James Michalopoulos, Artist - 9th National Juried Exhibition – Axis Gallery, Sacramento CA
Juror: Jenny Gheith, Assistant Curator of Painting and Sculpture, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco CA - 27th Annual Northern National Art Competition – Nicolet College, Rhinelander WI
Juror: Linda Benedict-Jones, Adjunct Professor of Art, Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh PA, and Curator of Photography, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh PA - 70th Annual Wabash Valley Juried Exhibition – Sheldon Swope Art Museum, Terre Haute IN
Juror: Carter E. Foster, Steven and Ann Ames Curator of Drawings, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City NY - Milwaukee Avenue Arts Festival – Chicago IL
- Summer Regional Exhibition – St. Louis Artists’ Guild, St. Louis MO
Juror: Najjar Abdul-Musawwir, Associate Professor of Studio Arts and Art History in the School of Art and Design and Africana Studies, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Carbondale IL - 40 Under 40 – Alamance County Arts Council, Graham NC
Juror: Michael Fels, Associate Professor of Art and Chair of the Art and Art History Department, Elon University, Elon NC - Palette: A Juried Food Art Exhibition – Salisbury University, Salisbury MD
- 57th Mid-States Art Exhibition – Evansville Museum of Arts, History and Science, Evansville IN
- 2013
- 4th Year Anniversary Show – Water Street Studios, Batavia IL
Juror: Glenn Wexler, Artist - 26th Annual Northern National Art Competition – Nicolet College, Rhinelander WI
Juror: James R. Pace, Professor of Visual Art, University of Texas at Tyler, Tyler TX - FoodCon IV – City Gallery, Harrison Center for the Arts, Indianapolis IN
- 69th Annual Wabash Valley Juried Exhibition – Sheldon Swope Art Museum, Terre Haute IN
Juror: Kris Ercums, Curator of Global Contemporary and Asian Art, Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas, Lawrence KS - Meat Art – Goose the Market, Indianapolis IN (solo)
- 4th Year Anniversary Show – Water Street Studios, Batavia IL
- 2012
- TINY – Gallery 924, Indianapolis IN
- 8th Annual IDADA (Indianapolis Downtown Artists and Dealers Association) Membership Exhibition – Harrison Center for the Arts, Indianapolis IN
Juror: Michelle Grabner, Professor and Chair of the Painting and Drawing Department, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago IL - 68th Annual Wabash Valley Juried Exhibition – Sheldon Swope Art Museum, Terre Haute IN
Juror: Jeffrey Grove, Senior Curator of Contemporary Art, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas TX
- 2011
- A Sense of Place – Halcyon Contemporary Art Gallery, Terre Haute IN (solo)
- 67th Annual Wabash Valley Juried Exhibition – Sheldon Swope Art Museum, Terre Haute IN
Juror: Janie Welker, Curator, University of Kentucky Art Museum, Lexington KY - Paintings of Meat – UW-Madison Memorial Union, Madison WI (solo)
- Spring Exhibition – Arts Illiana, Terre Haute IN
- Paintings of Meat: Recent Still Lifes – Halcyon Contemporary Art Gallery, Terre Haute IN (solo)
- 25th International Juried Show – Visual Arts Center of New Jersey, Summit NJ
Juror: Joan Young, Associate Curator of Contemporary Art, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York City NY
- 2010
- 5th Annual Juried Group Show – Halcyon Contemporary Art Gallery, Terre Haute IN
Juror: Dr. Lloyd Benjamin III, President Emeritus of Indiana State University, Terre Haute IN
- Les Salon des Refuses – Hoosier Salon Broad Ripple Gallery, Indianapolis IN
- Contemporary Realism Biennial – Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne IN
- 66th Annual Wabash Valley Juried Exhibition – Sheldon Swope Art Museum, Terre Haute IN
Juror: Gregory Gilbert, Senior Curator, Figge Art Museum, Davenport IA
- 4th Annual Juried Group Show – Halcyon Contemporary Art Gallery, Terre Haute IN
Juror: Dr. Laurette McCarthy, Independent Scholar and Curator
- 5th Annual Juried Group Show – Halcyon Contemporary Art Gallery, Terre Haute IN
- 2009
- 65th Annual Wabash Valley Juried Exhibition – Sheldon Swope Art Museum, Terre Haute IN
Juror: Ann Albano, Director, Sculpture Center, Cleveland OH
- 65th Annual Wabash Valley Juried Exhibition – Sheldon Swope Art Museum, Terre Haute IN
Awards
- 2022
- First Place, Small Matters, 2nd Biennial National Juried Exhibition – 437CO Gallery, Colorado Mesa University, Grand Junction CO
- 2015
- 2nd Prize in Painting, A Taste of Art – The Dairy Center for the Arts, Boulder CO
- Kantgias Award, Michigan Fine Arts Competition – Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center, Birmingham MI
- 2014
- Sharron R. Jolly Award of Recognition in Memory of Wanda “Tink” Boyd, 70th Annual Wabash Valley Juried Exhibition – Sheldon Swope Art Museum, Terre Haute IN
- 2013
- Lant and Amanda Davis Award of Recognition, 69th Annual Wabash Valley Juried Exhibition – Sheldon Swope Art Museum, Terre Haute IN
- 2012
- First Place, 8th Annual IDADA (Indianapolis Downtown Artists and Dealers Association) Membership Exhibition – Harrison Center For the Arts, Indianapolis IN
- 2010
- Barbara Vogel Award of Recognition, 66th Annual Wabash Valley Juried Exhibition – Sheldon Swope Art Museum, Terre Haute IN
- Best in Show, 4th Annual Juried Group Show – Halcyon Contemporary Art Gallery, Terre Haute IN
Bibliography, Residencies, Public Lectures
- 2018
- 2016
- 5×5 Artist Residency – Fulton Market Kitchen, Chicago IL
- Autotelic Studios: A Local Logan Square Workspace for Artists – LoganSquarist, May 11, 2016
- Latest Juried Show Makes a Resonant Statement About the Physicality of Art – Las Vegas Weekly, April 20 2016
- 2014
- 2013
- 2012
- 2011
- ‘Sense of Place’ and ‘Abstractions’ at Halcyon in December – Tribune Star, November 25 2011
- Halcyon Happenings – Terre Haute Living Magazine, November/December 2011
- Alliance of the Swope Lecture Series – Sheldon Swope Art Museum, Terre Haute IN
- Portraits & Still Lifes: Nichols-Pethick, Madeska at Halcyon in February – Tribune Star, January 28 2011
- 2010
Education
2009 MA Visual and Critical Studies, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago IL
2004 BS Art, BA Anthropology, emphasis: African Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison WI