Ben Heine Art and Music Blog: painter

Showing posts with label painter. Show all posts

Portrait of Ben Heine by Christian Rainer Kurzeder, Dresden, Germany

Photo by Christian Rainer Kurzeder

Portraits of Artist Ben Heine

Portraits by bi2Kir

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Andy Warhol

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This is my portrait of the famous American Pop artist.
The hole in his torso symbolizes the way he survived
from an attempted assassination in 1968. Warhol was
seriously wounded by the attack and barely survived.
He suffered physical effects for the rest of his life. The
shooting had a profound effect on Warhol's life and art.

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Detail:
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Andy Warhol
First Sketch
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(final painting coming soon...)

Banksy
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Banksy is a British graffiti artist

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Detail:
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Ben Heine - Jean Paul De Moor - Rolando
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Jean Paul De Moor is a painting Master and
was my professor when I was at the
"Académie des Beaux Arts de Bruxelles"
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Some of his art: chrisgallery.be/JPDeMoor/index.htm
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Rolando is an artist from Brussels

Interview With
Ben Heine

Ben by Marcin
Bondarowicz

By Claudio Parentela (*)

Let’s start with the basics; what's your full name, where do you live, and how old are you?

Ben Heine. I live in Brussels, Belgium and I’m 25 year old.

Do you have any formal training?

I studied journalism in Brussels during 4 years. I studied arts in a school in Hastings (England) during 1 year (painting, drawing, sculpting, photography, multimedia, history of art…). And I studied 6 months Technologies of Information and Communication in Utrecht (Holland). I also studied Slavic languages, history and cultures (Polish and Russian) during 2 years.

In art, I believe I’m mainly a passionate, open-minded and perseverant autodidact, ha ha! I did learn a few techniques when I personally met great masters such as Sebastian Kruger, Jan Op De Beeck, Marcin Bondarowicz and others. I think making mistakes and work hard to not make them again is the best teaching ever. I consider that motivation comes from inside an individual at 80%, the rest comes from outside.

I’m an optimistic and curious person, I’m always amazed, even scared to see all the things I still have to and want to learn and discover and all the people I have to and want to meet.

Did the place you grew up in influence your image making?

I was born in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, a beautiful, warm and colourful country in the West of Africa. I lived there all my early childhood, until 7. It definitely had a huge impact on the way I see my environment and the way I interact with people now.

Of course, such an experience also influenced the way I draw and represent things on paper or on canvas. I think this past life helps me now to find different sources of inspiration, in unexplored universes.

Sometimes, I’ve the impression to have no particular identity, to not be fully connected to this world, to have no precise roots and, in a way, to be a privileged “observer” of what’s going on around me. Like so many other artists, I’m a person who likes to produce things, it’s almost vital.

Furthermore, the fact that a significant part of my creations has a political substance, I perceive this function as a heavy responsibility to bear. Even if I have lots of pleasure doing what I’m doing, I have the strong feeling that it’s a duty, that I must use this special sensibility, my freedom of expression and my will to share my opinions an sentiments in a graphic way.

We’re all here on hearth for a short time. I’m convinced every one of us should do their best to know the place they live better, to have more sincere and simple relationships with other people and cultures, and to use what god has given them to promote peace and fight against oppression, discrimination, racism or violence.

How do you come up with your concepts?

Many concepts come to me when there is a conflict between my personal judgment of a situation and reality, may it be political or not.

When I have no clear ideas on something, reading is one of my methods to fill my brain with new elements and information. It usually works well, but it’s a long process. When I make political creations, I usually consult several articles related to the subject I want to illustrate. Writers every so often use impressive and gorgeous metaphors. I try to illustrate them.

When I make portraits, I read several biographies of the concerned persons; I try to know them as much as possible so that the representation fits their personality. For non political works, I just listen to my soul, my feelings and do anything as long as it relieves me completely. When the idea is found (this is often the longest step!), I start to draw and develop it, this is more technique.

Some precious ideas and concepts often come suddenly in incongruous moments. It happens at night, when making a jogging, when talking to a friend, when hearing something strange at the radio, when seeing something never seen before.

It depends also on the mood I have and on what my intentions are. The fact to live and learn new things is definitely something that generates concepts in my mind.

Describe your creations in a clear, concise and understandable sentence. What do you call them?

“Politico, fantastico, poetico, erotico, satirico, conceptual creations.”
It’s difficult to answer in one sentence to this question, because I’ve made paintings, sculptures, political cartoons, illustrations, portraits, caricatures, collages, photos, calligraphy, poem, etc.

I think we could simply call my recent graphic productions “cartoons”. Most of them are political images and intend to convey clear messages on current issues. With my experience in painting, I tend now to make illustrations, often surrealistic ones.

What other mediums would you like to explore in your image making?

I’d like to make totally digital graphic works. I find it very clean. I just started to retouch photos recently under a fake name: “Hubert Lebizay”. Ha ha, this is just a hobby and a challenge anyway, but I’m spending more and more time on this. Seriously, I intend to come back to traditional painting in the coming months, watercolour and acrylic, more precisely. I like the uncontrolled “happy happenings” that aquarelle creates and the high precision that is possible with acrylic. Both medium are magical. I hope to be able to get more textures and accuracy with these techniques. I might even add collages.

I’m sure a large number of my future creations will still have a political connotation. You know, this is the “duty” I was talking about… But they will certainly be about issues that concern us all, such as Global Warming…

What is the best time in the day for you to work on a project? Is there one, or is it more about the environment -- maybe the right mood?

I guess the environment has a tangible effect on mood. I usually work when I can due to lack of time. It can be at any moment in the day. Ideally, the period which is the most favourable to make things that require heavy concentration is in the afternoon while my best moment to be imaginative, escape in other dimensions and find original ideas and concepts is definitely either late in the evening or at night, when everything around is quite and seems far away. In prosperous moments, when my mind is full of ideas, I write or draw them quickly on paper, before I forget them the next day. I come back to these sketches weeks, months or even years after.

What are your artistic influences? and …generally who or what influences you the most?

I’m influenced by everything. In the art galaxy, the movements that influenced me the most are the German Expressionism, Belgian Surrealism and American Pop Art. My close and personal environment is a source of artistic creativity too. More recently, my main source of inspiration has been the international news. But I hope to be able to make timeless creations again, in a traditional way as I explained on question 6.

Who are some of your favourite artists/designers/photographers?

Many ! Some that I have in mind : Sebastian Kruger, Mike Flugennock, Nizar Outhman, David Baldinger, Nayer, Miroslav Gerencer, Glenn Ferguson, Man Ray, Richard Hamilton, Elliott Erwitt, Robert Doisneau, Alexander Rodchenko, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Diane Arbus, Brassai, Gilad Benari, Denis Olivier, Jan van Eyck, Pieter Bruegel, Hieronymus Bosch, René Magritte, Paul Delvaux, Marcel Duchamp, Kurt Schwitters, Pablo Picasso, Fernand Léger, Giorgo de Chirico, Gustav Klimt, Edward Munch, James Ensor, Constant Permeke, Max Beckmann, Salvador Dali, Otto Dix, George Grosz, Vincent Van Gogh, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Toulouse Lautrec, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Tom Wesselmann, Takashi Murakami, Jasper Johns, David Hockney, Aya Takano, Yoshitomo Nara and many others…

What is your next project? Exhibition? Collaboration?

My cartoon “Facebook Vs Myspace” will be published in the German version of “Rolling Stone” and I currently have an exhibition in a Belgian pub called “Le Courant d’Air”.

What are your plans for the future?

Have a family and keep being creative.

Are there some web sites that you would like to recommend? Artists, art communities, xxx,...!?

Many! Every week, I put on my blog a selection of interesting links I discovered. Here is an example of some recent choices:

- brazilcartoon.com
- toonpool.com
- magnumphotos.com
- driian.free.fr
- mi50.blogspot.com
- wwar.com
- dylancolestudio.com
- dusso.com
- hatchfx.com
- kelvinmcilwain.com

What sort of music do you listen to?

Although I chose graphic art to express myself, I’m convinced that music is the supreme art. It penetrates people in a much more powerful and universal way than any other form of artistic expression. I used to love songs only for their lyrics. Now, I tend to appreciate more musical melodies and rhythms, without any words. Any kind of melodies and rhythms, from classic to electro house. True talents can be found in any style.

Do you collect anything? If so what?

I’m not really a collector. What I collect the most are happy memories…

What do you do for fun?

I dance rock ‘n’ roll. :)

Any advice you can pass onto aspiring artists/designers?

I would tell them to be themselves, to keep being creative, dynamic and prolific whatever happens, to be original, unconventional and not afraid to stir up principles, to make artworks that have a strong meaning and force people to think or see the world in a different angle, to cherish noble values, to believe in genuine peace and democracy, to be a reflection of the society they live in.

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>>> The interview is also on Claudio Parentela's blog

(*) Claudio Parentela was born in 1962 in Catanzaro (Italy), where he still lives and works. Claudio is an illustrator, painter, photographer, mail artist, cartoonist, collagist and free lance journalist. He has interviewed a great number of other fellow artists (the interviews can be seen on his blog.

He has been active many years in the international underground scene. He has collaborated with several online and printed magazines specialized in contemporary art, literary and comics in Italy and worldwide. Visit his website for more information.

P I C A S S O
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Picasso
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By E.E. Cummings

Picasso
you give us Things
which bulge:
grunting lungs pumped full of sharp thick mind

you make us shrill
presents always
shut in the sumptuous screech of
simplicity

(out of the
black unbunged
Something gushes vaguely a squeak of planes
or

between squeals of
Nothing grabbed with circular shrieking tightness
solid screams whisper.)
Lumberman of The Distinct

your brain's
axe only chops hugest inherent
Trees of Ego, from
whose living and biggest

bodies lopped
of every
prettiness

you hew form truly

(The poem appeared on americanpoems.com)

René Magritte

René Magritte (1898 –1967) was a Belgian surrealist artist. He became well known for a number of witty and amusing images.

Life

Magritte was born in Lessines, in the province of Hainaut, in 1898, the eldest son of Léopold Magritte, a tailor, and Adeline, a milliner. He began drawing lessons in 1910. In 1912, his mother committed suicide by drowning herself in the River Sambre. Magritte was present when her body was retrieved from the water. The image of his mother floating, her dress obscuring her face, may have influenced a 1927-1928 series of paintings of people with cloth obscuring their faces, including Les Amants, but Magritte disliked this explanation. He studied at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels for two years until 1918. In 1922 he married Georgette Berger, whom he had met in 1913.

Magritte worked in a wallpaper factory, and was a poster and advertisement designer until 1926 when a contract with Galerie la Centaure in Brussels made it possible for him to paint full-time. In 1926, Magritte produced his first surreal painting, The Lost Jockey (Le jockey perdu), and held his first exhibition in Brussels in 1927. Critics heaped abuse on the exhibition. Depressed by the failure, he moved to Paris where he became friends with André Breton, and became involved in the surrealist group.

When Galerie la Centaure closed and the contract income ended, he returned to Brussels and worked in advertising. Then, with his brother, he formed an agency, which earned him a living wage.

During the German occupation of Belgium in World War II he remained in Brussels, which led to a break with Breton. At the time he renounced the violence and pessimism of his earlier work, though he returned to the themes later.

His work showed in the United States in New York in 1936 and again in that city in two retrospective exhibitions, one at the Museum of Modern Art in 1965, and the other at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1992. Magritte died of pancreatic cancer on August 15, 1967 and was interred in Schaarbeek Cemetery, Brussels.

Popular interest in Magritte's work rose considerably in the 1960s, and his imagery has influenced pop, minimalist, and conceptual art. In 2005 he came ninth in the Walloon version of De Grootste Belg (The Greatest Belgian); in the Flemish version he was 18th.

Philosophical and artistic gestures

A consummate technician, his work frequently displays a juxtaposition of ordinary objects in an unusual context, giving new meanings to familiar things. The representational use of objects as other than what they seem is typified in his painting, The Treachery of Images (La trahison des images), which shows a pipe that looks as though it is a model for a tobacco store advertisement. Magritte painted below the pipe, This is not a pipe (Ceci n'est pas une pipe), which seems a contradiction, but is actually true: the painting is not a pipe, it is an image of a pipe. (In his book, This Is Not a Pipe, French philosopher and critic Michel Foucault discusses the painting and its paradox.)

Magritte pulled the same stunt in a painting of an apple: he painted the fruit realistically and then used an internal caption or framing device to deny that the item was an apple. In these Ceci n'est pas works, Magritte points out that no matter how closely, through realism-art, we come to depicting an item accurately, we never do catch the item itself: we cannot smoke tobacco with a picture of a pipe.

His art shows a more representational style of surrealism compared to the "automatic" style seen in works by artists like Joan Miró. In addition to fantastic elements, his work is often witty and amusing. He also created a number of surrealist versions of other famous paintings.

René Magritte described his paintings by saying,
My painting is visible images which conceal nothing; they evoke mystery and, indeed, when one sees one of my pictures, one asks oneself this simple question, 'What does that mean?'. It does not mean anything, because mystery means nothing either, it is unknowable.

In popular culture

The 1960s brought a great increase in public awareness of Magritte's work. One of the means by which his imagery became familiar to a wider public was through reproduction on rock album covers; early examples include the 1969 album Beck-Ola by the Jeff Beck group (reproducing Magritte's The Listening Room), and Jackson Browne's 1974 album, Late for the Sky, with artwork inspired by Magritte's L'Empire des Lumieres. Alan Hull of UK folk-rock band Lindisfarne used Magritte's paintings on two solo albums in 1973 and 1979. Styx adapted Magritte's Carte Blanche for the cover of their 1977 album The Grand Illusion, while the cover of Gary Numan's 1979 album The Pleasure Principle, like John Foxx's 2001 The Pleasures of Electricity, was based on Magritte's painting Le Principe du Plaisir.

Jethro Tull mention Magritte in a 1976 lyric, and Paul Simon's song "Rene And Georgette Margritte With Their Dog After The War" appears on the 1983 album Hearts and Bones. Paul McCartney, a life-long fan of Magritte, owns many of his paintings, and claims that a Magritte painting inspired him to use the name Apple for the Beatles' media corporation. Magritte is also the subject and title of a John Cale song on the 2003 album HoboSapiens.

Numerous films have included imagery inspired by Magritte. The Son of Man, in which a man's face is obscured by an apple, is referenced in the 1992 film Toys, the 1999 film The Thomas Crown Affair and in the 2004 short film Ryan. In the 2004 film I Heart Huckabees, Magritte is alluded to by Bernard Jaffe (Dustin Hoffman) as he holds a bowler hat.

According to Ellen Burstyn, in the 1998 documentary The Fear of God: 25 Years of "The Exorcist", the iconic poster shot for the film The Exorcist was inspired by Magritte's L'Empire des Lumieres.

In Spain, an award-winning children´s TV show, "El Planeta Imaginario" (The Imaginary Planet) (1983-1986), dedicated two episodes to René Magritte: "M, el extraño viajero" (M, the strange traveller) and "La Quimera" (The Chimera).

Magritte's painting The Treachery of Images is referred to in The Forbidden Game: The Chase, a book by L. J. Smith, in which the difference between image and reality becomes key to solving the entire conflict. The same painting (and its caption, "This is not a pipe") inspired a graphic in the video game Rayman Raving Rabbids. The online game Kingdom of Loathing refers to this painting, as well as to The Son of Man.

See also

• Foundation Magritte : [link]
• René Magritte Museum : [link]
• René Magritte at Gallery of Art : [link]
• Magritte at Artcyclopedia : [link]
• Patricia Allmer, 'La Reproduction Interdite: [link]
• René Magritte Paintings at Picasa : [link]

(Source : Wikipedia)

Frida Kahlo
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Frida Kahlo (1907-1954)
Mexican Painter

From 1926 until her death, the Mexican painter Frida Kahlo created striking, often shocking, images that reflected her turbulent life. Kahlo was one of four daughters born to a Hungarian-Jewish father and a mother of Spanish and Mexican Indian descent, in the Mexico City suburb of Coyoacán.

She did not originally plan to become an artist. A polio survivor, at 15 Kahlo entered the premedical program at the National Preparatory School in Mexico City. However, this training ended three years later when Kahlo was gravely hurt in a bus accident. She spent over a year in bed, recovering from fractures of her back, collarbone, and ribs, as well as a shattered pelvis and shoulder and foot injuries. Despite more than 30 subsequent operations, Kahlo spent the rest of her life in constant pain, finally succumbing to related complications at age 47.

During her convalescence Kahlo had begun to paint with oils. Her pictures, mostly self-portraits and still lifes, were deliberately naive, filled with the bright colors and flattened forms of the Mexican folk art she loved. At 21, Kahlo fell in love with the Mexican muralist Diego Rivera, whose approach to art and politics suited her own. Although he was 20 years her senior, they were married in 1929; this stormy, passionate relationship survived infidelities, the pressures of Rivera's career, a divorce and remarriage, and Kahlo's poor health. The couple traveled to the United States and France, where Kahlo met luminaries from the worlds of art and politics; she had her first solo exhibition at the Julien Levy Gallery in New York City in 1938. Kahlo enjoyed considerable success during the 1940s, but her reputation soared posthumously, beginning in the 1980s with the publication of numerous books about her work by feminist art historians and others. In the last two decades an explosion of Kahlo-inspired films, plays, calendars, and jewelry has transformed the artist into a veritable cult figure.

- See the official Frida Kahlo Site
- See some of her artworks

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--> This short biography appeared on fridakahlo.com
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Ben Heine Chronological Comprehensive Biography

The following bio was last updated in Oct 2014. Short text HERE

2014: New Artistic Challenges / More Music / Mission to Tenerife

January 2014: Early January, thanks to his collaboration with the British news agency "Barcroft", Ben’s new 3D artworks were published in many notorious newspapers such as "The Daily Mail" (ref), "The Mirror" (ref), "Het Nieuwsblad" (ref), "The Daily Record" (ref), "The Telegraph" (ref), "Metro" (ref) and many others. On the 16th of January, Ben gave for the second time an online conference for 3 classes of Collingwood School in West Vancouver, British Columbia with teacher Mahasti Mofazali (ref). Later in January, with the help of his new agent Najwa, Ben held a solo exhibition at "DCA Gallery" in Brussels, Belgium from the 24th of January until the 22nd of March, an event titled "Parallel Universe" (ref). A selection of limited edition prints from the "Pencil Vs Camera" series were exhibited, including some of Ben’s newest 3D creations. The show gathered thousand of visitors and also attracted national and international journalists such as "Het Laatste Nieuws" (ref) and "Fans of Flanders" (ref) in Belgium or "Press-TV" (ref) and "Irib tv" (ref) in Iran among others (ref)... Inexplicably, the Flemish press heavily covered the event while the French-speaking journalists of Belgium almost ignored it.

February 2014: Ben’s first comprehensive Pencil Vs Camera tutorial was published on Tuts+ (ref) along with an interview (ref). Tuts+ is a popular online platform aiming to help people learn creative skills. On the 22nd of February, Ben made a public "Flesh and Acrylic" performance at the Brussels "Natural Sciences Museum" in the frame of the "Museum Night Fever", an event organized by MacSwell (ref). His live performance with model Sandra Rassios was filmed by several television channels including Iedereen Beroemd", a well-known program in Flanders (ref). At the end of the performance, Ben wore an overall covered with acrylic paint with the same patterns used on the model and they both walked around in the respected museum (ref).

March 2014: Ben started collaborating with other musicians and singers such as pianist Thibault Crols and singer Lory Guerriero (ref). Mid March, several Diasec prints of Ben’s new 3D artworks were exhibited by Ben’s British gallery "The Art Movement" at the "Affordable Art Fair" in London (Battersea). Later in March, Ben’s video interview for “Fans of Flanders” was released in Flanders (ref).

April 2014: Ben improved his knowledge in music theory. He also created several new ballpoint pen sketches (ref). End of April, Ben became ambassador of his new town Rochefort in the frame of "Wallonie Bienvenue" and he opened the doors of his studio to all visitors (ref).

May 2014: End of May, Ben shared several new musical electronic compositions including "Plucky Ducky", "Rainbow Memories", "You Don't Wanna Play" (ref). Ben started adding vocals to his melodies and collaborated with Belgian singer Lory Guerriero for his track "You Don't Wanna Play" and he also used his own voice.

June 2014: Mid June, Ben collaborated for the second time with Chinese model Zhuzhu to make another artwork with black stickers (ref). Later in June, an interview with Ben was released in "Cult of Mac" and on many other Apple related websites (ref). On the 23rd of June, a group of 21 students from the KCD School (Katholieke Centrumschool Denderleeuw) in Denderleeuw, Belgium) studying Ben's oeuvre visited his studio in Rochefort (with teacher Bart Verhelle). It was the first time Ben welcomed students directly in his studio. Since then, many schools worldwide have used Ben's artistic inventions to teach students to become more creative (ref).

July 2014: Ben travelled to Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain) for a creative project titled "#onthedraw" commissioned by the island’s tourism agency "Promotur - Turismo de Canarias" (ref). Visiting the island’s most secret spots, Ben was asked to express his experiences in Tenerife through a number of drawings and an illustrated sketchbook, intending to promote the development of a sustainable tourism, raise awareness on the Canaries as an ideal scenario for film shooting and also to inspire youth from the Canary Islands to use their imagination and creativity to search for new opportunities (ref). The story of this project was published in Yorokobu (ref), El Pais (ref) and many other major Spanish medias.

September 2014: Ben worked part time as a teacher at the IFAPME school of Dinant, Belgium. End of September, Ben is interviewed by award-winning journalist Jessica Soho for "State of the Nation" for GMA news in The Philippines (ref).

October 2014: Ben exhibited a selection of prints at the (Brussels Accessible Art Fair) for the 5th time at the prestigious Cercle de Lorraine in the heart of Brussels. During the opening of the show, Ben wore a colorful handmade outfit made with acrylic (ref). The fair gathered thousand of visitors and different medias talked about it such as the Chinese "CNC News" (ref) or the Belgian "Brussels Diplomatic" (ref). On the 28th of October, Ben participated in an important national awareness action for the World Psoriasis Day by swimming with people having psoriasis to prove that it isn't contagious. This event gathered a great number of artists, politicians and journalists.

2013: International Recognition / First Exhibition in Asia / Animation

February 2013: Ben collaborated with Chinese model Zhuzhu for the first time (ref). Their shooting happened in Ben’s studio on the 17th of February. Among the photos they made together, "Less is More" showing the model covered with thousands of small squared black stickers is the most famous work (ref).

March 2013: The 17th of March, Ben’s animation and music "Time Warp" were released online. The 23rd of March, Ben’s circle portrait featuring Jesus was featured on the cover of "W Sieci" Polish weekly magazine.

April 2013: The 13th of April, Ben shared his animation "Lion Walk" made to illustrate his eponymous electronic music creation released the same day (ref). Ben travelled to France the 14th of April to co-organize (ref) and participate in "Tour de France Photo" along with founderThomas Ueberschlag and photographer Stephan Deneuvelaere (ref). The 18th of April 2013, during the Tour, Ben exhibited some of his conceptual photos in a collective street exhibition in Marseille, France (ref). He also made a public Pencil Vs Camera performance the same day at Pavillon M (ref). Ben took some highly acclaimed pictures during this tour, such as "Time Traveler" or "Old Times", among others (ref).

May 2013: The 29th of May, Ben participated in the famous Belgian event "Culinaria" at Tour & Taxis (ref). The 2013 theme was "Pure Street" (ref). Ben's mission was to decorate the working space of Michelin Star Chefs Yves Mattagne and Axel Colonna (ref). He created "Taste Buds", a giant 27m2 abstract and colorful mosaic painting (ref).

June 2013: Early June, Ben opened his first official online stores (via Zazzle and deviantART) to sell reproductions and derivatives of his creations at more affordable prices and also to counter the massive piracy and illegal reproductions of his art in several countries, particularly in India, Asia and South America (ref). The 18th of June, Ben gave a conference to present his work at "Images International Photography Club" in The Hague, the Netherlands (ref).

July 2013: Ben started creating much larger drawings with more visible 3D effects using anamorphosis tricks. These images have had a huge success instantly (ref).

August 2013: Mid August, Ben signed a major contract with Kare Design, a decoration and design company based in Germany. Prior to the contract, Kare had sold to Endemol (international television production) several of Ben’s circle portraits, without Ben’s permission, to decorate the house of the French television reality show "Secret Story" that took place earlier in June. Fortunately, a positive solution to this infringement was found (ref).

September 2013: The 28th of September, Ben participated in an outdoor collective exhibition in his new town Rochefort via the "Centre Culturel des Roches" (ref). Ben’s audio and video interview for Flickr (via "The Weekly Flickr " by Ameya Pendse) was released on Yahoo news pages in different countries on the 30th of September 2013 (ref).

October 2013: The 11th of October, Ben exhibited some limited edition prints at the "Event Lounge" (ref) for "Exhi-B" in Brussels (ref). He then travelled to Seoul, South Korea between the 18th and 28th of October to organize and hold his first solo exhibition in Asia titled "The Universe of Ben Heine" that took place at "Hyehwa Art Center" from the 24th until the 31st of October with the help of INMD, a Communication Agency in Seoul and Ben’s local partner since 2010 (ref), Samsung and the support and presence of the Belgian Embassy in Seoul with Ambassador François Bontemps and Consul Pierre Steverlynck (ref). During his travel, Ben also created 2 new Pencil Vs Camera images in Seoul featuring Cheonggyecheon streets andGyeongbokgung Palace (ref), he also took hundreds of photos in famous Seoul spots and gave conferences for students of local universities (ref). Different South Korean newspapers talked about the exhibition such as "The Hearld Business" (ref), "Hankyung" (ref), ebuzz (ref) among others.

November 2013: Early November, Ben officially started collaborating with Najwa Borro, an art lover he met thanks to their mutual business partner Stephanie Manasseh. She became his agent in Brussels and Paris and she helped him to organize exhibitions and find new business opportunities. Mid November, Ben’s interview and cover for "Volkswagen Magazine" was published in French and Dutch in Belgium (ref). End of November, Ben officially joined the popular social platform Instagram.

December 2013: The 5th of December, Ben’s music track "Fly With You" was available for sale on Spotify in the collective album "Mesh 1.0" released by DMS in the UK. Mid December,iCanvas, a renowned US company selling museum-quality canvases offered Ben a long-lasting partnership creating a special collection with a selection of Ben’s artworks (ref). The 18th of December Ben co-animated a debate about the "limits of freedom of expression" with popular Belgian cartoonist Pierre Kroll at "PAC Bruxelles" (ref). On the 29th of December, Ben was featured on the trendy website "Optical Spy" along with artists Donald Rust, Escher, Liu Bolin, Guido Daniele, Banksy and others (ref).

2012 Birth of Theo / Music Creation / Many Exhibitions / Mission with Samsung Note 10.1

January 2012: Early January, Ben’s promotional brochures (25 pages) sponsored by "Samsung Imaging" were printed in 5000 copies and hundreds of them were sent to Ben’s most faithful fans around the world (ref). The 9th of January, Ben shared on SoundCloud his first experimental musical composition (ref). A few days later, Ben’s interview for deviantART was published on the 12th of January (ref). One day later, he held an exhibition at "Namur Expo" in the context of the "Art Event" fair, gathering several artists and tens of thousands of art lovers (ref). Ben’s self portrait made of circles ("Remembering What I Am") was featured as the official poster design of the whole event (ref). Ben’s gallery in London exhibited several Pencil Vs Camera Diasec prints at the "London Art Fair" between the 18th and 22nd of January (ref).

February 2012: Early February, Mc Cann Erickson Romania asked Ben to make some Pencil Vs Camera works for several publicity campaigns for a Lithuanian client ("Bite"). Ben travelled to Bucharest several times between 2012 and 2013 to work on these projects with McCann Erickson (ref). Ben's works were exhibited by 2 different galleries at the Affordable Art Fair (AAF) in Brussels from the 9th till the 12th of February 2012 (ref). It was a successful event. Just after the fair, mid February, Ben travelled to Barcelona in Spain for a special photo shooting with model Caroline Madison. He also made there his first "Double Landscape" picture showing 2 different views of the city of Barcelona (ref) and the Pencil Vs Camera artworks showing the funny monkey (ref). He made another "Double Landscape" image featuring London some days after (ref).

March 2012: Ben brought some major innovations in his Pencil Vs Camera concept: he introduced colors and black paper instead of white (ref). He shared his first colored sketch the 9th of March. On the 21st of March, Ben gave a conference about his work for "View Finders", an English speaking photography club in the heart of Brussels (ref). Later in March, Ben’s creations were published for the 4th time in "The Huffington Post" (ref).

April 2012: The 6th of April, Ben released his first hand-drawn animation (and a music composition) showing 18 Pencil Vs Camera works in progress (ref). Mid April, Ben visited Lisbon in Portugal and Sevilla in Spain. At his return, Ben participated for the first time in the event "Tour de France Photo" on the 21st of April (ref). During this day, Ben met former "Miss Belgium" Alizée Poulicek (ref) and they took several photos at "Metropole Hotel" (ref). He created the same day a Pencil Vs Camera artwork with Coralie Nelly, another Belgian model participating in the Tour. On the 30th of April and until June 2012, Ben exhibited a wide collection of Pencil Vs Camera Diasec prints at the respected "Avenue" (ref) restaurant on St James Street in London, UK, with his gallery "The Art Movement" (ref).

May 2012: Ben gave several interviews in particular for "Fotoflock" and "iFamous". Later in May, his creations were published in some of the biggest UK newspapers such as The Sun (ref), The Telegraph (ref), The Daily Mail (ref), The Mirror (ref) and many other online references such as CBS News (ref) or Msn News (ref).

June 2012: The documentary filmed by Italian director Davide Gentile about Ben’s work was released worldwide in June 2012 (ref). The 14th of June 2012 Ben exhibited at McCann Erickson headquarters in Bucharest, Romania, a selection of Pencil Vs Camera and Digital Circlism prints on canvas in a collective exhibition titled "PAF/Prints Art Festival" (ref). Ben met Belgian model Jessica De Boeck on the 17th of June and they took several photos in Anderlecht including 2 Pencil Vs Camera pictures. A few days later, on the 22nd of June, Ben had another exhibition at the prestigious "Arsenal" space in Brussels, Belgium, via "Exhi-B (ref).

August 2012: Ben’s son, Theodor Heine, was born on the 12th of August 2012 in Brussels (ref).

September 2012: Early September, "Samsung Portugal" contacted Ben asking if he would be interested to help launch nationally the new Samsung Note 10.1 tablet and the Galaxy Note II smartphone (ref). Ben accepted and travelled to Lisbon on the 29th of September until the 6th of October. During this experience, Ben made photo-drawings like usual but instead of using pencils, pieces of paper and a reflex camera, he only used the 10.1 tablet as a drawing surface area, the magnetic S-pen as a tool to draw and the powerful integrated camera of the Galaxy phone to capture the final results (full story here). It was a difficult challenge for Ben because it was the first time he was working with these devices and each drawing was a total improvisation. A mini documentary (ref) showing the interaction Ben had with the tablet, the smartphone and the beautiful city of Lisbon was filmed by "Dub Video Connection" via "Desafio Global Ativism" for "Samsung Portugal" (ref). The experience was also reported by "Samsung Toworrow" (ref) and the full story was published in the issue 34 of "Soura Magazine" (ref) and in other news medias as well.

From the 13th until the 20th of September, Ben exhibited in the "MontBlanc" Brussels luxury boutiques in the frame of the "Louise Nights" (ref).

Ben’s artworks were presented at the "Photokina" Art Fair in Cologne, Germany in the "Fujufilm Belgium" stand between the 18th and 23rd of September 2012 (ref).

The same week, Ben participated for the 4th time in the "Brussels Accessible Art Fair" at the Conrad Hotel of Brussels from the 21st till 23rd of September (ref). Ben had prepared a unique outfit with several handmade drawings (ref). It was a very successful fair.

Ben then had a solo exhibition at "VIP Offices" in Brussels from the 26th of September until the 15th of November 2012, titled "The Best of Both Worlds" (ref). The vernissage gathered hundreds of people. Ben also created an exclusive Pencil Vs Camera artwork depicting the "VIP Offices" façade (ref).

October 2012: October 2012 was another very busy month for Ben with exhibitions every week. On the 12th of October, Ben had a collective exhibition at "Auto World" via "Exhi-B where he showed some Pencil Vs Camera Diasec limited edition prints (ref). Ben’s artworks were also exhibited in London at the "Affordable Art Fair" by Ben’s gallery "The Art Movement" between the 25th and 28th of October (ref).

November 2012: Ben’s interview for "Adobe Photoshop" was released on the 15th of November (ref). On the 17th of November, Ben travelled to Rome, Italy, to give a conference about graphic creation in the frame of "Creative Pro Show", a yearly event featuring some of the most prominent international photographers (ref). End of November, a popular application emulating Ben Heine Pencil Vs Camera’s style was launched worlwide, titled "Fantasy" for Camera 360, developed by Pinguo (ref). Since then, many other applications imitated Ben’s famous concept.

December 2012: After many exhibitions and new creations, Ben decided to move away permanently with his family to the Belgian countryside in Lessive, a small and charmful village in Rochefort, near Dinant. In this house, Ben owned for the first time a professional studio (ref) that allowed him to start musical projects and to work on graphic projects that required bigger space, such as the 3D Pencil Vs Camera works...

2011: Ben Heine Documentary by Davide Gentile / Exhibitions / Many New Works

January 2011: Ben met French/Asian model Caroline Madison for the first time in February 2011. They made a first improvised shooting the same day.

February 2011: End of February, Ben exhibited his creations at the "Affordable Art Fair in Brussels" with the help of his agent Rami. Many exhibitions happened the next months in Belgium and abroad (ref).

March 2011: Ben and his agent Rami travelled to London to find new business partners. They met Milly Longin who had contacted Ben previously requesting to have a stock of Ben’s limited edition prints for her gallery "The Art Movement". They also met Belgian Embassador and Consul in London who had already shown interest in Ben’s work. It was a fruitful travel which brought several new opportunities to Ben.

May 2011: Italian director Davide Gentile came to Ben's family house in Braives, Belgium, with his crew to film a one-week documentary showing Ben working on different projects. Ben made his first "Flesh and Acrylic" with model Caroline Madison in his garden in Braives.

July 2011: Ben and Rami found in the "Begramoff Gallery Garden" a new partner. Ben had a solo exhibition at this gallery from the 1st of July until the 15th of September 2011. Rami and Ben slowly realized they had different professional goals. The agent wanted to own a virtual gallery with a selection of artists while Ben wanted to continue working exclusively with Rami. Nevertheless they decided to continue collaborating as many events and shows were planned. Several exhibitions happened the next months in Belgium and abroad.

August 2011: Ben travelled to the North of Spain to walk the famous St James’ Path towards Santiago de Compostela where he made several new sketches, gathered ideas and took many photos for his Pencil Vs Camera project (ref). At Ben’s return, Rami had started collaborations with other artists. Ben and Rami stopped working together permanently. A couple of months later, due to worries with other artists and not being able to achieve his goals with his art gallery, Rami moved permanently to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with his family.

September 2011: Exhibition at Berliner Liste in Germany from the 7th till the 11th of September (ref).

October 2011: Mid October, Ben travelled again to London, alone this time, to exhibit his works at the "Art London" event (ref) and at the "Affordable Art Fairs" in Hampstead and Battersea with Ben’s local partner "The Art Movement" (ref). Every exhibition in London was a success. Back to Belgium, Ben exhibited at the "Brussels Accessible Art Fair" in the Conrad Hotel between the 28th and 30th of October (ref).

November 2011: Ben travelled to Sousse in Tunisia and came back with hundreds of pictures including several studies and ideas for his Pencil Vs Camera series (ref).

December 2011: Early December, Ben started using the music sequencer and digital audio workstation "Ableton Live" to create his own experimental electronic music (ref). Later in December, Ben’s creations were published in some of the biggest international and British newspapers including The Sun (ref), El Pais (ref), The Telegraph (ref), Dein Spiegel (ref), Het Nieuwsblad (ref), The Daily Mail (ref) and many other online references such as The Huffington Post (ref), Yahoo (ref) and others... (ref). The critique was massively praising and supporting his graphic inventions.

2010: Birth of Major Creative Art Series / Samsung Imagelogger / Many New Creations

February 2010: Early February, Ben created his first circle portraits (ref). The first circle portraits he made were experimental works and Ben refined his technique later on (ref). On the 10th of February, Rami Achcar, an old acquaintance of Ben from high school approached him to request to become his agent. Ben accepted and it was the beginning of a prosperous association. Thanks to the success and worldwide buzz generated by Ben's Pencil Vs Camera series, they received countless professional opportunities and started to organize exhibitions in major European cities (ref).

April 2010: 2 months after launching his creative concept with circles, Ben tried something completely different. He shot his first Pencil Vs Camera artwork with a modest Nikon D70 (ref) on the 12th of April 2010. Both series instantly had a huge impact on social networks and Ben’s images were quickly featured on influential news and art sites. International press agencies and freelance journalists contacted Ben requesting to publish his fresh artworks in well-known magazines and newspapers (ref). In Pencil Vs Camera, Ben usually portrayed people’s life, nature, animals or architecture. The main themes are love, freedom, life and friendship… (ref). Ben began with simple black and white sketches on white paper. He brought several major innovations later on (ref).

May 2010: Ben started working part time at "Fondation Shan", a foundation meant to help autistic people (ref).

June 2010: Ben was one of the first photographers to become an official Samsung Camera Imagelogger (ref). In this context, Ben had the opportunity to experience and shoot with Samsung latest camera devices between 2010 and 2013 such as the Samsung NX10, NX11, NX20, NX200 and Galaxy NX cameras and lenses (ref). Samsung also sponsored his promotional brochures in 2011 (ref), his collective exhibition at Samsung D’light in 2010 (ref), his project with the Samsung Note 10.1 in Lisbon in 2012 (ref) and his solo exhibition at "Hyehwa Art Center" in Seoul later in 2013 (ref).

July 2010: Samsung Imaging interviewed Ben as a member of the "imagelogger" program and a sponsored photographer. The interview was published on "Samsung Camera" official website on the 12th of July (ref). In July and August, Ben exhibited at “Le Coach” a trendy restaurant near Montgomery in Brussels (ref).

August 2010: Too busy with his successful artistic projects, Ben stopped working at "(Fondation Shan)".

December 2010: Throughout 2010 and particularly in December, Ben’s interest for electronic music creation kept growing.

2009: No more Activism and Political Art

Ben stopped doing political art. He worked as a teacher (French, English and Dutch) at "Collège Cardinal Mercier" secondary school in Braine L’Alleud, Belgium from November 2008 until March 2009 (ref). To make a living, Ben also worked as a seller at "Colruyt" supermarket (in Schaerbeek) from June 2009 until February 2010 (ref). Next to these brief professional experiences, Ben started making watercolor illustrations and he never stopped working on his creative projects.

2008: Different Jobs and Professional Experiences

Due to the heavy economic crisis, it was not easy for Ben to find a job in Journalism directly after his studies. So he had to try different jobs to make a living. He briefly worked as a communication officer at "Txt Ibis" in Kortenberg (Flanders) from September to December 2008 (ref). Ben also worked as a teacher for a private school in Brussels ("Reussit School"). Despite these jobs, Ben's priority always remained in his creative projects and he couldn’t manage to keep these jobs very long.

2007: Graduated and New Perspectives

From January till August, Ben travelled to Utrecht in The Netherlands to study Information and Communication Technologies and to improve his knowledge of Dutch. In September 2007, Ben graduated from (IHECS) Journalism school with distinction in communication, information and journalism (ref).

2006: Political Activism and Journalism / First Solo Exhibition

During his studies and being highly influenced by the political aspect of Journalism and by professors like Paul Delmotte (ref), Ben made several political illustrations for different national and international newspapers throughout 2006. Strongly manipulated by a network of cartoon associations (including "Iran Cartoon"), Ben was asked to submit some controversial sketches for the provocative and immoral "Holocaust Cartoon Contest" sponsored by the Iranian newspaper Hamshahri, (meant to denounce the "Western hypocrisy on freedom of speech"). Ben’s final assignment at university included an investigation about the "limit of freedom of expression in political art" so this contest was also an opportunity for him to experience and study such situation. Ben later wrote a public letter to apologize for the confusion he had generated (ref) and to beg pardon to the Jewish community (ref).

In the summer, Ben organized his very first solo exhibition at "Les Coulisses Saint-Jacques", a trendy cabaret near Brussels Grand Place (ref). Many of his early experimental acrylic paintings were exhibited there during several months. He also did work experience as a journalist at La Libre Belgique in August (ref). Ben joined Flickr the 22nd of August (ref). End of October, Ben attended a workshop with German master acrylic painter Sebastian Kruger (ref). Early November, Ben travelled to Kenya for an African safari into the wild with his family (ref). He came back with thousands of wild animals and landscapes photos. Ben joined deviantART the 12th of November (ref).

2005: Learning Journalism and Photography

Ben learned analogue photography with teacher Guy Philippart at IHECS. Every evening after high school, he also went to the "Académie Royale des Beaux Arts de Bruxelles" hoping to refine his painting and drawing techniques with teacher Jean Paul de Moor (ref). He learned several languages (English, Dutch, Spanish, Polish and Russian).

2004: IHECS Journalism School in the Heart of Brussels

Ben continued his Journalism studies at IHECS, a well-known High School in the heart of Brussels (IHECS). Due to some highly committed teachers there, Ben got involved in different political causes. Ben sold his first acrylic paintings (early works).

2003: Poland and Slavonic Culture

Ben met his future wife Marta Konikowska in March 2003. After completing his studies in Hastings with distinction (BTEC in Foundation Studies Art & Design), Ben came back to Belgium in Summer 2003. Because Poland was not yet part of the European Union at that time, Ben and his family had to fight a lot to have his Polish ladyfriend move permanently to Belgium. Ben started studying Journalism and Slavonic languages at the "Université Libre de Bruxelles" (ref).

2002: Travel to Hastings / Sculpture/painting / First commissions

Ben completed secondary school with distinction at "Collège St Vincent" (boarding school) in Soignies, Belgium in June 2002 (ref). He travelled to England in September to study sculpture (clay ceramics), painting and history of arts at "Hastings College of Arts & Technology" in Hastings (ref). Ben made his first commissioned painting for a local Asian restaurant (depiction of Buddha) in Hastings in December 2002.

1996 - 2002: Secondary School in Soignies

In September 1996, Ben started secondary school at "St Vincent College" in Soignies, a well-known Belgian boarding school (ref). His interest for graphic arts, along with music, poetry and sport grew fast at that time. The first year in that boarding school was not easy for Ben. Fortunately, he started a lot of creative and sportive activities (drums, basketball...). In 2000, Ben became a very studious and a rather solitary person. Along with his studies, he spent a lot of time writing poetry. He also improved his drawing techniques on a daily basis. He learned piano and guitar on his own. In 2001, one of his teachers, Anne-Marie Lansmanne, deeply helped him to believe in a possible future as an artist. Ben travelled to Florence, Italy, with his school in the winter, visiting many classic art museums.

1990 - 1996: Primary School

In 1990 Ben started primary school at Notre Dame de La Trinité (ref). It was a difficult time as Ben had just left Ivory Coast, his hometown. In 1993, due to some family issues, Ben became a demanding and compulsive child and he started having small behavioral problems at school. In 1994, at 11 year old, Ben made his first drawings. In 1995, Ben’s parents divorced. The same year, Ben failed at primary school but completed his 6th year successfully at Notre Dame des Grâce in June 1996 (ref).

1983 - 1990: Birth in 1983 and Childhood in Ivory Coast, Africa