Ben Vida (born 1974) is an artist and composer who lives and works in New York. He holds a Masters of Fine Arts from Bard College. As an artist and composer, he has been an active member of the international experimental music community for two decades with a long list of collaborators, projects and releases to his credit.[1]
Vida has performed as a musician in several bands since the mid 1990s. He co-founded the minimalist quartet Town & Country and continued to perform as a guitarist and trumpeter for the band.[2] Vida was also a member of Pillow and Terminal 4 and recorded and performed solo as Bird Show and in the Drag City band Singer.[3]
In addition to his musical endeavors, Vida has exhibited his work as a contemporary artist in recent years. His work has been performed and presented in New York at the Guggenheim, Audio Visual Arts, and The Artist’s Institute; in London at The Institute of Contemporary Art and The Royal Festival Hall as part of the Meltdown Festival; in Chicago at The Museum of Contemporary Art; and other locations such as the Sydney Opera House, Leap Gallery, Berlin, and Museo d’Arte Moderna di Bologna.[4]
2016
[Smile on.]. . . [Pause.]. . . [Smile off.], Lisa Cooley, New York[5]
2015
Microramp Boombox, with Jeff DeGolier, Waterfront Gallery, Kingston, New York[6] Slipping Control (West), 356 S Mission Rd, Los Angeles, California[7]
2014
Damaged Particulates (Undersong Edition), Unsound NYC, Experimental Intermedia, New York. Travelled to: Cricoteka Museum, Kraków, Poland [2014]; Leap Gallery, Berlin, Germany [2014][8]
2013
Bloopers: #0, Performa Biennial, New York[9] Metal Fatigue Music with Jeff DeGolier, NADA Fair Miami special project, Miami Beach, Florida[10] Slipping Control, Audio Visual Arts, New York[11]
2012
hy.morf.eld, Artist’s Institute, New York[12]
Vida has been the recipient of several awards including the ISSUE Project Room Artist-in-Residency Commission; the Museu d’ Art Contemporani de Barcelona “Composing with Process” Exclusive Works Commission; Unsound Festival New Works Commission and a Swedish Arts Committee Travel Grant. Recent residencies include EMS Studios, Stockholm; EMPAC, Troy and the Clocktower, Manhattan.