Ben Alden

Ben Alden is the exhibitions and institutional support technician at Norwich University of the Arts, supporting a range of roles across campus. At East Gallery Ben oversees the design, fabrication, and installation of exhibitions. This gallery space showcases a range of professional exhibitions and Ben works closely with the student teams offering on-site training during the exhibition installations

Alongside this, Ben supports the installation of other exhibitions linked to Norwich such as Graduate showcases, the Bishops Art Prize and Graduate Fashion Week. Throughout the year, Ben offers Art handling and installation guidance workshops to students where they can learn and improve upon their exhibition skills.

Following my Fine Art degree, I began by working for the Norfolk Museum Service at Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery, The Museum of Norwich, and Strangers Hall. There I worked in several teams including Design and technical, Education, and Visitor Services. This allowed me to gain a broad knowledge of how professional galleries and museums function.

Following this, I began working at Norwich as a technician, designing and installing the exhibitions for East Gallery and gaining my associate fellowship in 2019.

Alongside this I work as a freelance art handler working for galleries such as Kettles Yard as well as for private clients.

Through these roles I have picked up a range of skills crucial to professional exhibition installation and I have been able to work with a range of artists and artworks. These include working with historical works from artists such as Rembrandt, Dürer, Brueghel the Younger, Artemisia Gentileschi, Goya, Picasso to more contemporary artists such as Ai Wei Wei, Cornelia Parker, Ryan Gander, Grayson Perry, Jeff Koons, Caro, and Lucy Rie.

In my own practice as a figurative painter, I have exhibited nationally with recent highlights including exhibiting work at ING Discerning Eye 2022 and Figurative Art Now 2021 at Mall Galleries London.

As part of the workshop’s team at Norwich I enjoy helping develop skills and passing them on to the students through the workshops, graduate showcases and through East Gallery installs.