Profile

Christopher Joshua Benton (b. 1988) is a UAE-based artist working across installation, sculpture, photography, and film. He works closely with communities and within neighborhoods to instigate collaboration while sharing stories of power, labor, and hope. His practice explores how the working-class uses culture and innovation to stage resistance to postcolonial and neoliberal forces. He’s an avid collector of discarded material and obsesses over the entangled narratives these found objects embody.

Past work has been presented in NYC, Tokyo and the Emirates with solo presentations at Abu Dhabi Art, Dubai Design Week, the Fikra Graphic Design Biennial, and Jameel Arts Centre. His art has been featured on BBC World News and in outlets like Dezeen, Vogue Arabia, and Vice Magazine. His writing and cultural criticism has appeared in Identity Magazine, The Flagpole, and Global Art Daily.

He is currently pursuing his MS in Art, Culture, and Technology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, through the generous support of the Salama Bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation.