BEN HEINE
Best known for his original series "Pencil Vs Camera", "Digital Circlism" and "Flesh and Acrylic"
(born June 12, 1983 in Abidjan, Ivory coast) is a Belgian multidisciplinary visual artist
EARLY LIFE
Ben grew up in Ivory Coast. He lived there 7 years, along with his parents and his 3 sisters. His father was a commercial engineer and his mother a Modern Jazz dance teacher. Everything changed when the family came back to Brussels in 1990. Ben was a demanding child and he didn't like school at all. He became wiser, more disciplined and a studious person later on, after a stay in a boarding school (at the "Collège Saint Vincent" (Belgium), from 12 y/o to 18 y/o). In 1994, he discovered for the first time that his energy, his fears, his emotions and his ideals could be canalized in "visual projects", it was the very beginning of a never ending adventure in drawing and painting. As a teenager, Ben had many other hobbies and activities: beside writing poetry on a daily basis, he played drums, piano and guitar, he also used to play basketball and to run everyday. His interest for graphic arts was eventually the strongest one.
ACADEMIC BACKGROUND
Ben has a degree in Journalism (started at "Université Libre de Bruxelles" (Belgium) and completed at "IHECS" (Belgium) & "Utrecht University of Applied Sciences" in The Netherlands). He also briefly studied History of Art, Painting and Sculpture at "Hastings College of Arts & Technology" (England) but he is a self-taught person in Drawing and Photography. Through his studies, he learned several languages: French (1), English (2), Dutch (3), Polish (4), Spanish (5) and Russian (6). Ben loves languages because he loves communicating and interacting with people. He loves people.
PROFESSIONAL EVOLUTION
Following his studies, Ben has tried all kinds of different jobs but visual creation has always been his main concern. Since 2006 until now, his pictorial works have been published in famous Belgian and international newspapers and magazines (see "Press" for more info) and they have been seen by millions of people online. Ben Heine’s artworks have been exhibited in Belgium, Great Britain, France, Canada, USA, Germany, Turkey, Romania, Brazil, South Korea and Spain. Ben is currently represented by several well-established art galleries in Belgium and abroad, such as the Gallery Garden (Brussels), the Appart Gallery (Brussels), Start/Stuff&Art (Cape Verde), the Art Movement (London), the Next Gallery (Jacksonville), the Radeski Gallery (Liège) and others. He has also participated in numerous art events such as the London Art Fair, the Affordable Art Fair, the Berliner List, the Accessible Art Fair, Art Event, Music for Life...
PENCIL VS CAMERA
DIGITAL CIRCLISM
FLESH AND ACRYLIC
Nicola was born and lives in Leicester, England.She trained for 10 years in Theatre School and then went on to study Art and Design at DeMontfort University in Leicester.In 2006 Nicola was traveling in Australia and discovered a Sand Sculpture Exhibition. After visiting the project she quickly became a volunteer and began detailing a sculpture of Ganesh by Jino Van Bruissen. Following this she was employed as a detailer on a second project in Sydney. It was on this project that Nicola found her feet as a sculptor and was introduced to a career of sand sculpting.One year later she was invited to participate in an ice and snow sculpting festival in Madrid. She eagerly accepted and now also works world wide carving ice, snow and sand for exhibitions, festivals, promotions, events and competitions.In 2010 Nicola was invited to the BBC to work on a new children’s art show, Deadly 60. As an artist/presenter of the show Nicola demonstrates a multitude of creative techniques including some sand and ice sculpture.> GOLD Medal at World Sandsculpting Championships 2010, Seattle> GOLD Medal at World Sandsculpting Championships 2007, Canada> SILVER Medal at World Sandsculpting Championships 2007, Canada> SILVER Medal at Rorscach Sandsculpturen Festival 2007, Switzerland> PUBLIC PRIZE at Rorschach Sandsculpturen Festival 2007, Switzerland
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