About the work

I’ve spent time over these past months revisiting some favourite filmmaker’s oeuvres, and one of the most fitting for the situation was David Cronenberg, with his blend of body horror and social breakdown. This drawing is from the film Rabid (1977) about a malevolent virus causing havoc, which felt appropriate.

Date and country of birth

1972, GB

About the artist

Born 1972 Somerset, Ben Rivers lives and works in London. Graduated from BA Fine Art, Falmouth School of Art.

His works are held in public and private collections including Tate Gallery, London; Ville de Genève, Genève; Kunsthaus Hamburg, Hamburg; FRAC Ile de France, Paris; and National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh.

Selected solo exhibitions include Urthworks, Hestercombe Gallery, Somerset (2019); Phantoms, Triennale, Milan (2017); Urth, The Renaissance Society, Chicago (2016); Islands, Kunstverein of Hamburg (2016); The Two Eyes Are Not Brothers, Artangel, London and Whitworth Museum, Manchester (2016); and Earth Needs More Magicians, Camden Arts Centre, London (2015). Selected film projects include Krabi, 2562, with Anocha Suwichakornpong, Locarno Film Festival (2019).

Awards include the EYE Art Film Prize, Netherlands; FIPRESCI International Critics Prize, 68th Venice Film Festival; Baloise Art Prize, Art Basel 42; Radcliffe Fellow at Harvard University; and Paul Hamlyn Foundation Award for Artists (2010).