Born in New York, New York

Raised in East Montpelier, Vermont

Lives and works in San Francisco, California

Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT
Buffalo AKG Art Museum, Buffalo, NY
Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA
Honolulu Museum of Art, Honolulu, HI
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2021
Apotheoneurosis, Anglim Trimble Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2016
Untitled, Valentine Gallery, Queens, NY
New Work, Gallery Paule Anglim, San Francisco, CA

2008
Music for My Funeral, Mogadishni, Copenhagen, Denmark

2007
Claustrotopia, Mogadishni, Copenhagen, Denmark

2005
New Work, Gallery Paule Anglim, San Francisco, CA
Fooled Again, Mogadishni, Copenhagen, Denmark

2004
New Paintings, Daniel Weinberg Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Cover Me, Clementine Gallery, New York, NY

2002
Evol, Clementine Gallery, New York, NY
New Work, Gallery Paule Anglim, San Francisco, CA

1999
Love Love Love, Gallery Paule Anglim, San Francisco, CA
Odd Astra, Dirt Gallery, Santa Monica, CA

1997
Flawed, Diego Rivera Gallery, San Francisco, CA

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2023
Mindfield, Guerrero Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (curated by Larry Rinder)
Abstraction, Anglim Trimble Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Prêt à placer, Anglim Trimble Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2021
Muddy the Waters, Anglim Trimble Gallery, SF, CA

2020
Represent 001, Anglim Trimble Gallery, SF, CA
Pete’s Café, The Great Highway Gallery, SF, CA
UNTITLED San Francisco, Anglim Gilbert Gallery, SF, CA
Old Friends, Anglim Gilbert Gallery, SF, CA
Works on Paper (curated by Eleanor Heartney), McNeese State University, Lake Charles, LA

2019
In a Flash, Diego Rivera Gallery, SFAI, San Francisco, CA
UNTITLED Miami, Anglim Gilbert Gallery, Miami, FL

2018
Unconscious Rationale, Anglim Gilbert Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Drawing in a Time of Fear & Lies, Hyperallergic.com

2017
Supreme Friction, Geoffrey Young Gallery, Great Barrington, MA

2016
The Book of Lies, Joseloff Gallery, University of Hartford, Hartford, CT
The Book of Lies, Booklyn, Brooklyn, NY

2015
Retrospective, Gallery Paule Anglim, San Francisco, CA
The Book of Lies, 356 Mission, Los Angeles, CA
Casheesh, Geoffrey Young Gallery, Great Barrington, MA
Speaking with Threads, Craft Alliance Center of Art, St. Louis, MO

2014
The Book of Lies, Albin Kuhn Gallery, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD
The Book of Lies, Reese Bullen Gallery, Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA

2013
The Goddess, Geoffrey Young Gallery, Great Barrington, MA

2011
Status:  Somewhere between position and condition, V1 Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark

2010
To the Road Less Traveled, V1 Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark

2009
Low Blow, Stux Gallery, New York, NY
Dritto e Rovescio, La Triennale di Milano, Milan, Italy
A Thin Slice, Baer Ridgway Exhibitions, San Francisco, CA
Compass in Hand: Selections from the Rothschild Collection, MOMA, New York, NY

2008
The Good with the Bad, Mogadishni, Aarhus, Denmark
Not a Fiber Show, Bucheon Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Group Show, Mogadishni, Copenhagen, Denmark
Gouache and Gouache Only, Andrea Meislin Gallery, New York, NY
Art Brussels 2008, Mogadishni, Brussels, Belgium
Art Chicago 2008, Gallery Paule Anglim, Chicago, IL

2007
The Book of Lies, 18th Street Arts Center, Santa Monica, CA
Pricked:  Extreme Embroidery, Museum of Arts & Design, New York, NY
Liste Basel, Mogadishni, Basel, Switzerland

2006
Fernando Chieco, Neil Hamon and Benji Whalen, Galeria Leme, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Natural Selection, Microsoft Collection, Redmond, WA
The Next Doing, Geoffrey Young Gallery, Great Barrington, MA
Likeness, Geoffrey Young Gallery, Great Barrington, MA
Go Figure, Mogadishni, Aarhus, Denmark

2005
How Bad Do You Want It, Geoffrey Young Gallery, Great Barrington, MA
Summer Camp, Clementine Gallery, New York, NY
It'll Cost You, Arken Contemporaries, New York, NY
The Book of Lies, Belgrade Art Center, Belgrade, Serbia

2004
Articles and Waves, Geoffrey Young Gallery, Great Barrington, MA
Dessins et des Autres, Galerie Anne de Villepoix, Paris, France
Colored Pencil, K.S. Art, New York, NY
Dessins et des Autres II, Galerie Catherine Bastide, Brussels, Belgium
So Sweet, Mogadishni, Copenhagen, Denmark

2003
Lust + Leisure, Galerie Voges + Partner, Frankfurt, Germany
Clementine @ Hallwalls, Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center, Buffalo, NY
Summer of Lust, Geoffrey Young Gallery, Great Barrington, MA
Funny Papers, Daniel Weinberg Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
The Musikshow, Gallery Lombardi, Austin, TX
The Book of Lies, Grunwald Center, Armand Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA

2002
Where the Boys Are, Clementine Gallery, New York, NY
Use Your Illusion, Kavi Gupta Gallery, Chicago, IL
Artissima, Clementine Gallery, Torino, Italy
Loss and Ardor, Geoffrey Young Gallery, Great Barrington, MA

2001
Beefcake/Cheesecake, Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, Santa Ana, CA
New Visions, Pro Arts, Oakland, CA
August Confessions, Geoffrey Young Gallery, Great Barrington, MA
Matrix International, Matrix Gallery, Sacramento, CA
Dia de Los Muertos, Kerns Art Center, Eugene, OR
Operating Systems, Susan Cummins Gallery, Mill Valley, CA

2000
Parts, Goliath, Brooklyn, NY
The Standard Model: (Game Face), Geoffrey Young Gallery, Great Barrington, MA
California Small Work, Sonoma Museum of Visual Art, Santa Rosa, CA

1999
Memento Mori, Star 67, Brooklyn, New York
Return to Splendor, Geoffrey Young Gallery, Great Barrington, MA
Bay Area Awards Show, New Langton Arts, San Francisco, CA

1998
Nothing but Time, Southern Exposure, San Francisco, CA
For the Birds, Geoffrey Young Gallery, Great Barrington, MA
Annual Juried Exhibition, Berkeley Art Center, Berkeley, CA
Sugar, Southern Exposure, San Francisco, CA
Website Featured Artist, Artists Space, New York, NY

1997
Introductions, Gallery Paule Anglim, San Francisco, CA
All the Things You Are, Geoffrey Young Gallery, Great Barrington, MA
Me, Myself and I, Higbee Gallery, San Francisco, CA
The Crystal Ball, Southern Exposure, San Francisco, CA
MFA Show, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA
Countdown 2000, 1078 Gallery, Chico, CA
Dead Nature, Bucheon Gallery, San Francisco, CA

1996
Guy, Four Walls, San Francisco, CA
Field Days, Cerulean Embankments, Geoffrey Young Gallery, Great Barrington, MA
NAACP Show, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA
Luscious, Southern Exposure, San Francisco, CA
Art on Market Street Public Art Project, SF Art Commission, SF, CA

1995
Emotional Baggage, The Luggage Store, San Francisco, CA
Obsession, Southern Exposure, San Francisco, CA
Annual Show, SOMAR Gallery, San Francisco, CA

EDUCATION / AWARDS

2002
Awarded Artadia grant

1999
Bay Area Award (Musee Miniscule) in visual art, New Langton Arts, San Francisco

1997
Graduated with M.F.A. in Painting from the San Francisco Art Institute

1996
Awarded Cadogan Scholarship by San Francisco Foundation

1991
Graduated summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, B.A. in English from Columbia University

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

1997, Kenneth Baker, “Newcomers at Anglim,” San Francisco Chronicle, July 24

1997, Maria Porges, “Michael Thurston and Benji Whalen,” Artpapers, September/October

1997, Benny Shaboy, “An Interview with Benji Whalen,” Studionotes, December

1998, David Bonetti, “Jack Hanley Resurrected in Mission,” SF Chronicle, December 18

1999, Leah Ollman, “Star Sightings,” Los Angeles Times, January 22

2001, Ilana Stanger, “Interview with Benji Whalen,” TheArtBiz.com, August

2002, Laurie Simmons, “Top 10,” Artforum, February

2002, Kevin Williams, “Use Your Illusion,” Chicago Tribune, August 2

2002, Roberta Smith, “Benji Whalen,” New York Times, December 13

2002, Laura Janku, “Leo Bersamina and Benji Whalen,” Flavorpill, December 5

2003, New American Paintings #43

2003, Christopher Schutte, “Saisonstart,” Frankfurter Allgemeine, September 9

2004, “Musikshow and Rawkshow,” Voices of Art, January 14

2006, “Galeria Leme exibe o corpo humano sob o olhar de novos artistas,” Globo.com, November 8

2006, Kristian Handberg, “Anmeldelse: Go Figure på MOGADISHNI AAR,” Aarhus.nu, December 6

2007, Karen Torp-Pedersen, “En Hard Omgang Kluddermoor,” 24Timer, Copenhagen, October 18

2007, Joel Githrow, “Pricked at Museum of Arts & Design,” Flavorpill, New York, November 3

2008, Erik Meistrup, “The Good with the Bad,” Kunstavisen, January 3

2008, Cindi Di Marzo, “Extreme Embroidery:  Art and Craft Meet on the Verge,” Studio International, January 9

2008, Gaye Elder, “Pricked,” Shuttle, Spindle and Dyepot, Winter

2008, “Extreme Embroidery,” Embroidery, March / April

2008, Bradley Quinn, Contemporary Textiles: The Fabric of Fine Art, Black Dog Publishing, London

2008, “Sew Controversial,” New York Sun, March 27

2008, Florence Tetier, "Benji Whalen," Sang Bleu, April 30

2008, Torben Sangild, “Whalen udstiller begravelseskunst,” iBYEN.dk, November 10

2008, Pernille Rom Bruun, “Benji Whalen,” Kunsten.nu, November 12

2009, Francesca Rigotti, ”Dritto Rovescio,” Ticino Sette, March 7

2009, Christian Rattemeyer, The Judith Rothschild Foundation Collection Catalogue Raisonné, Museum of Modern Art, New York

2009, Pernille Rom Bruun, “Contemporary, Living” Kunsten nu, March 24

2010, Trine Ross, ”Ungdommelige kunstnere hylder nysgerrigheden,” iBYEN.dk, January 13

2010, Bradley Quinn, Future Textiles, Berg Publishers, London

2011, Romain Dauriac, “Interview with Benji Whalen,” Clark, Paris, March

2015, Sarah Bryan Miller, “Speaking with Threads,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 26

2015, Dickson Beall, “Speaking with Threads,” Webster-Kirkwood Times, September 11

2015, Margaret Keller, “Innovations in Textiles 10,” All the Art, Winter

2018, Julia Couzens, ”Unconscious Rationale,” Squarecylinder.com, August 6

2019, New American Paintings #139, January

2021, "Must See," Artforum.com,  March 31