Ben Heine
Encyclopedia
Ben Heine is a Belgian multidisciplinary artist. Starting as a painter and political cartoonist, he became more widely known in 2011 for his "Pencil vs Camera" and "Digital Circlism" projects. Heine has a degree in journalism
(Brussels - Belgium) and made his Masters' final assignment on the "limits of freedom of speech in political cartoons" (2007). As a political cartoonist, Heine received some criticism for his views on the Middle Eastern political situation and specifically some images about Israel and Zionism. Heine has stopped doing political art since 2009. Heine has briefly studied painting
and sculpture
in Hastings
, England, but considers himself a self-taught artist in drawing
and photography
(The D-Photo). Heine’s “Pencil vs Camera” artwork is so far his most widely published work.
In this project, Heine's usually focuses on architecture, portraits and animals (Obvious mag). Among many others, the main themes approached in "Pencil Vs Camera" are love and friendship. Heine says: "I just make art for people. I want them to dream and forget their daily troubles. I used to write poems many years ago, I want to convey a poetic meaning into my pictures, each new creation should tell a story and generate an intense emotion, like a poem, like a melody". This series had a large impact on the graphic design community. Heine says the initial idea of this "Pencil Vs Camera" concept came by coincidence while he was writing a letter. Some of his "Pencil vs Camera" creations have also been related to optical illusions.
and Pointillism
. In this project, Heine usually makes portraits of celebrities/cultural icons with digital tools using flat circles on a black background. Each circle has a single color and a single tone. Trends Hunter said about Digital Circlism: "Through the use of graphic softwares and a whole lot of creativity, Ben Heine is able to create iconic faces from history and pop culture by drawing circles of various sizes and colors. In order to give them a dynamic and 3-dimensional appearance". The artist stated he has been making portraits for over 15 years but it wasn't very long ago that he started developing this original technique. "As I've been working with digital tools recently, this came quite naturally, and I’m a big fan of Pop Art and Pointillism. Digital Circlism is a modern mix of them".
, German Expressionism
, American Pop Art
, and Social Realism
. Abduzeezo says about Heine: "His galleries are filled with great stuff and he can walk beautifully between several art directions, creating amazing pieces in any way he goes". Heine has given several interviews explaining the philosophy behind his creations.
ian website Irancartoon.com Heine has been accused of anti-Semitism by critics including the Belgian
satirical weekly magazine Pere UBU and the Institute for Global Jewish Affairs. Heine wrote in his open letter to the Irancartoon.org site, "We are against all kind of revisionism, anti-Semitism, racism or xenophobia. We do not at all deny that millions of Jews were horribly murdered by the Nazis." He decided to completely stop creating political cartoons in 2009 and to focus on his own art. He wrote an open letter to the Jewish Community in 2010 to express his regrets and apologizing about his past behavior, explaining also, how in his view these drawings had been manipulated by extremist associations and how he lost control of the situation. Ben Heine was a member of the Don Quichotte World team. He collaborated with the Belgian newspaper La Libre Belgique
. His political images were exhibited on several news sites and online galleries dedicated to art and cartoons such as Brazilcartoon, Greekartoon, Cartoonworld, and Cartoonru, and MWC News. His cartoons have also been featured on some popular cartoon-Websites of the Middle and Far East World like Arabcartoon, Persiancartoon, Irancartoon as well as on the Chinese Okcomic.
His work has also been presented in the main art fairs of Belgium opened to artists only:
Ben Heine is now regularly shown in major European Art Fairs such as the Affordable Art Fair. In addition to exhibitions in Belgium and UK, Heine's work has already been shown in Turkey, Romania, France, Canada, USA, Germany, Brazil, South Korea and Spain.
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
(Brussels - Belgium) and made his Masters' final assignment on the "limits of freedom of speech in political cartoons" (2007). As a political cartoonist, Heine received some criticism for his views on the Middle Eastern political situation and specifically some images about Israel and Zionism. Heine has stopped doing political art since 2009. Heine has briefly studied painting
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
and sculpture
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
in Hastings
Hastings
Hastings is a town and borough in the county of East Sussex on the south coast of England. The town is located east of the county town of Lewes and south east of London, and has an estimated population of 86,900....
, England, but considers himself a self-taught artist in drawing
Drawing
Drawing is a form of visual art that makes use of any number of drawing instruments to mark a two-dimensional medium. Common instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, inked brushes, wax color pencils, crayons, charcoal, chalk, pastels, markers, styluses, and various metals .An artist who...
and photography
Photography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
(The D-Photo). Heine’s “Pencil vs Camera” artwork is so far his most widely published work.
Pencil vs camera
The idea of mixing drawing with photography came to him in 2010. Heine says it was the result of a long graphic exploration and a logic consequences of his artistic evolution. "Pencil vs Camera" mixes drawing and photography imagination and reality, through illusion and surrealism.In this project, Heine's usually focuses on architecture, portraits and animals (Obvious mag). Among many others, the main themes approached in "Pencil Vs Camera" are love and friendship. Heine says: "I just make art for people. I want them to dream and forget their daily troubles. I used to write poems many years ago, I want to convey a poetic meaning into my pictures, each new creation should tell a story and generate an intense emotion, like a poem, like a melody". This series had a large impact on the graphic design community. Heine says the initial idea of this "Pencil Vs Camera" concept came by coincidence while he was writing a letter. Some of his "Pencil vs Camera" creations have also been related to optical illusions.
Digital circlism
This is the name Heine has given to a whole new creative technique he has developed in 2010. It is a mix between Pop ArtPop art
Pop art is an art movement that emerged in the mid 1950s in Britain and in the late 1950s in the United States. Pop art challenged tradition by asserting that an artist's use of the mass-produced visual commodities of popular culture is contiguous with the perspective of fine art...
and Pointillism
Pointillism
Pointillism is a technique of painting in which small, distinct dots of pure color are applied in patterns to form an image. Georges Seurat developed the technique in 1886, branching from Impressionism. The term Pointillism was first coined by art critics in the late 1880s to ridicule the works...
. In this project, Heine usually makes portraits of celebrities/cultural icons with digital tools using flat circles on a black background. Each circle has a single color and a single tone. Trends Hunter said about Digital Circlism: "Through the use of graphic softwares and a whole lot of creativity, Ben Heine is able to create iconic faces from history and pop culture by drawing circles of various sizes and colors. In order to give them a dynamic and 3-dimensional appearance". The artist stated he has been making portraits for over 15 years but it wasn't very long ago that he started developing this original technique. "As I've been working with digital tools recently, this came quite naturally, and I’m a big fan of Pop Art and Pointillism. Digital Circlism is a modern mix of them".
Influences
Heine says he is influenced by Belgian SurrealismSurrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....
, German Expressionism
Expressionism
Expressionism was a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect in order to evoke moods or ideas...
, American Pop Art
Pop art
Pop art is an art movement that emerged in the mid 1950s in Britain and in the late 1950s in the United States. Pop art challenged tradition by asserting that an artist's use of the mass-produced visual commodities of popular culture is contiguous with the perspective of fine art...
, and Social Realism
Social realism
Social Realism, also known as Socio-Realism, is an artistic movement, expressed in the visual and other realist arts, which depicts social and racial injustice, economic hardship, through unvarnished pictures of life's struggles; often depicting working class activities as heroic...
. Abduzeezo says about Heine: "His galleries are filled with great stuff and he can walk beautifully between several art directions, creating amazing pieces in any way he goes". Heine has given several interviews explaining the philosophy behind his creations.
Political works
What Heine refers to as his academic visual research on the limits of freedom of speech in political cartoons lead to controversy. Due to the pro-Palestinian and anti Zionism nature of some of Heine's political art and his participation in a 2006 competition calling for Holocaust-related cartoons on the IranIran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
ian website Irancartoon.com Heine has been accused of anti-Semitism by critics including the Belgian
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
satirical weekly magazine Pere UBU and the Institute for Global Jewish Affairs. Heine wrote in his open letter to the Irancartoon.org site, "We are against all kind of revisionism, anti-Semitism, racism or xenophobia. We do not at all deny that millions of Jews were horribly murdered by the Nazis." He decided to completely stop creating political cartoons in 2009 and to focus on his own art. He wrote an open letter to the Jewish Community in 2010 to express his regrets and apologizing about his past behavior, explaining also, how in his view these drawings had been manipulated by extremist associations and how he lost control of the situation. Ben Heine was a member of the Don Quichotte World team. He collaborated with the Belgian newspaper La Libre Belgique
La Libre Belgique
La Libre Belgique is a Belgian newspaper in French. In Belgium, it can be roughly seen as an equivalent of Flemish De Standaard. The paper is widely perceived as pro-catholic...
. His political images were exhibited on several news sites and online galleries dedicated to art and cartoons such as Brazilcartoon, Greekartoon, Cartoonworld, and Cartoonru, and MWC News. His cartoons have also been featured on some popular cartoon-Websites of the Middle and Far East World like Arabcartoon, Persiancartoon, Irancartoon as well as on the Chinese Okcomic.
Shows
Heine has participated to national culture and charity events through the exhibition of his artwork such as:- JazzArt Expo for the Belgian Red CrossBelgian Red CrossThe Belgian Red Cross was established in 1864 by Doctor Andrea Wegner and has its headquarters in Brussels.-External links:***...
- Heritage day in Hosdent (Belgium)
His work has also been presented in the main art fairs of Belgium opened to artists only:
- Brussels Accessible Art Fair
- Art Event in Antwerp
Ben Heine is now regularly shown in major European Art Fairs such as the Affordable Art Fair. In addition to exhibitions in Belgium and UK, Heine's work has already been shown in Turkey, Romania, France, Canada, USA, Germany, Brazil, South Korea and Spain.
Actual representatives
Ben Heine, with his "Pencil vs Camera" and Digital Circlism" projects, is represented by several Art Galleries in the world:- The Gallery Garden (Belgium)
- The AppArt Gallery (Belgium)
- The Art Movement(UK)
- The Next Gallery (USA, Florida)
Sponsors
Ben Heine is working since early 2010 in collaboration with Samsung Imaging (Samsung Imaging) that took him first into his Imageloggers program, then quickly propose him a larger sponsorship relation.External links
Inline Citations
- "Artist turns camera images into surreal landscape" (Mail Online) 3 February 2011
- "Wereld valt voor Belgische fototekeningen" (Het Nieuwsblad) 5 May 2010
- "El lapiz que pinta otra realidad" (El Pais) 15 March 2011
- "Drawing on Creativity" (Pop Photography) 2 March 2011
- "Ben Heine, l'artista che completa la foto con un disegno" (La Repubblica) 15 March 2011
- "Snap! It’s a draw" (Daily Mirror) 28 April 2010