A Prolific Self-Taught Multidisciplinary Artist
Ben Heine is a Belgian artist who has produced through the years a huge number of artworks. He is currently best known for his original series "Pencil Vs Camera", "Digital Circlism" and "Flesh and Acrylic". He has a degree in Journalism and is a self-taught person in drawing, digital photography and music (piano and drums). His graphic creations have been exhibited widely in Europe and more recently in Asia. His favorite art movements are Surrealism, Pop Art, Geometric Abstraction, Expressionism and Social Realism. He started creating electronic music in 2011. A documentary about his work was released in 2012. Ben is married to Marta and their son Theodor was born in August 2012. A Belgian Boy Born in Ivory Coast With an Interest in Drawing
Ben was born in 1983 in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, where he spent the first seven years of his life, with his parents and three sisters. The whole family relocated in Brussels, Belgium, in 1990. His father was a commercial engineer and his mother a choreographer and a dance teacher. As a young boy, Heine was attracted by the things young men are happy to explore such as sport, music and friends. Heine started drawing at 11 year old and quickly understood that graphic art was a powerful tool of communication and expression. At that time until recently, his curiosity for drawing was his keenest interest.
Academic Background and Love for Languages, Art and Music
Heine undertook studies in different countries, including Ivory Coast, Belgium, the UK and the Netherlands. Ben has a diploma in Journalism completed with distinction at IHECS school of Journalism in Brussels. He also studied History of Art, Painting and Sculpture at Hastings College of Arts & Technology in the UK and at the Académie Royale des Beaux Arts in Brussels. Throughout his academic training, he was also able to learn several music instruments (drums and piano) and several languages. Besides perfectly speaking French and English, the artist is quite fluent in Dutch and Polish and speaks some bits of Spanish and Russian. A Popular Artist With an International Mindset
Hundreds of millions of people have seen Heine’s creations. He has exhibited and published his artworks all over the world since 2006. The artist presented his pieces of art in countless fairs and galleries in Belgium, South Korea, the UK, Romania, The Netherlands, Italy, Germany, France, Canada, the US, Turkey, Brazil, and Spain. His pictorial works have been published in some of the most famous newspapers and magazines (see "Press" and "Exhibitions" for more info). Moreover, Heine has a huge presence on the Internet as well, and his works continually pop here and there on social media and online news outlets, making him one of the most watched artists on the web today. Ben is an enthusiastic traveller, he has visited hundreds of cities and countries, each one of them being a huge source of inspiration for his creative projects. Pencil Vs Camera: When Imagination Meets Reality
Pencil Vs Camera is an original visual concept invented and popularized by Ben Heine in April 2010. It is the artist’s special trademark and one of the most creative art concepts of the 21st century that has influenced a big number of other creators. Pencil Vs Camera blends drawing and photography in a unique way. The idea was the result of a long artistic exploration and a logic outcome of Ben's evolution: "I wasn’t satisfied with only drawing or only photography, so I had to find a way to merge the two and this is how Pencil Vs Camera was born." ("Cultural Voices" June 2014). Ben’s hand is always visible because it represents the connection between the viewer, the artist and the artwork. In these images, everything seems possible and Ben likes to tell a story and convey timeless messages using imagination, illusion, poetry and surrealism. Starting with simple sketches, Ben brought major innovations to the concept in 2012 and 2013, adding colors and black paper or increasing the drawings’ size (more info in the comprehensive chronological bio below). Since 2012, several smartphone applications emulate Heine’s Pencil Vs Camera’s style. Many creators have borrowed from Heine’s brilliance and started to fashion for themselves, something of a replica. They say imitation is the highest form of flattery. (see "Interviews" for more info) 