{{Short description|Japanese-American painter}} [[File:Aphrodisiac Brand by Ben Sakoguchi, Honolulu Museum of Art.jpg|thumb|right|400px|''Aphrodisiac Brand'' by Sakoguchi, Honolulu Museum of Art]]
'''Ben Sakoguchi''' (born 1938) is a Japanese-American artist who was born in San Bernardino, California. At age five, his family was interned at the Poston War Relocation Center in Arizona following the enforcement of Executive Order 9066.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.pasadenaweekly.com/2016/03/28/ben-sakoguchi-a-life-in-baseball/ |title="Ben Sakoguchi: A Life in Baseball" in ''Pasadena Weekly'' |access-date=2018-04-08 |archive-date=2018-04-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180409111422/https://www.pasadenaweekly.com/2016/03/28/ben-sakoguchi-a-life-in-baseball/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
== Education == In 1960, Sakoguchi earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of California, Los Angeles. In 1964, Sakoguchi earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from University of California, Los Angeles.<ref name="Artist's website">[https://www.sakoguchi.info/biog/ Artist's website]</ref>
== Career == Sakoguchi was an art instructor at Pasadena City College from 1964 until his retirement in 1997.<ref name="janm_sakoguchi"/>
Sakoguchi is best known for his small paintings that were created in series, often with socially relevant themes, such as slavery and the internment of Japanese Americans. Sakoguchi is known for his Orange Crate Label series.<ref name="janm_sakoguchi">{{cite web |url=http://www.janm.org/exhibits/drawingtheline/artists/#sakoguchi |title=Artist - Ben Sakoguchi |website=janm.org |date=2012 |accessdate=November 20, 2019 |archive-date=October 2, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191002023248/http://www.janm.org/exhibits/drawingtheline/artists/#sakoguchi |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>[http://bensakoguchi.com/series_slavery.php Artist's website]</ref> ''Aphrodisiac Brand'', in the collection of the Honolulu Museum of Art, is a mock orange-crate label. It shows a rhinoceros slaughtered for its horn, which is erroneously believed to be an aphrodisiac or a cure for cancer in Traditional Chinese medicine as ''Cornu Rhinoceri Asiatici'' (犀角, ''xījiǎo'', "rhinoceros horn").<ref name="theatlantic.com">{{cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/05/why-does-a-rhino-horn-cost-300-000-because-vietnam-thinks-it-cures-cancer-and-hangovers/275881/|title=Why Does a Rhino Horn Cost $300,000? Because Vietnam Thinks It Cures Cancer and Hangovers|first=Gwynn|last=Guilford|work=theatlantic.com|date=15 May 2013 }}</ref><ref name="savetherhino.org">{{cite web|url=https://www.savetherhino.org/rhino_info/threats_to_rhino/poaching_for_rhino_horn|title=Rhino Poaching|work=savetherhino.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/rhinoceros-rhino-horn-use-fact-vs-fiction/1178/|title=Rhinoceros – Rhino Horn Use: Fact vs. Fiction – Nature – PBS|date=20 August 2010|work=pbs.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.savetherhino.org/rhino_info/threats_to_rhino/poaching_for_traditional_chinese_medicine|title=Threats to Rhino – Rhino Threats – Save the Rhino|work=savetherhino.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.savetherhino.org/rhino_info/threats_to_rhino/poaching_for_traditional_chinese_medicine |title=Poaching for Traditional Chinese Medicine |date=2 November 2012 |work=archive.org |url-status=bot: unknown |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121102214008/http://www.savetherhino.org/rhino_info/threats_to_rhino/poaching_for_traditional_chinese_medicine |archivedate= 2 November 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://read.atavist.com/dead-zoo-gang|title=The Dead Zoo Gang|date=31 March 2014|work=atavist.com|access-date=10 April 2018|archive-date=21 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161021034708/https://read.atavist.com/dead-zoo-gang|url-status=dead}}</ref>
== References == {{reflist}}
{{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Sakoguchi, Ben}} Category:1938 births Category:20th-century American painters Category:American artists of Japanese descent Category:Japanese-American internees Category:Living people Category:Pasadena City College faculty Category:University of California, Los Angeles alumni Category:21st-century American painters Category:People from San Bernardino, California