Group show Zurich

Ben Eine and Friends

2022 MAY 12 – MAY 28

Love At First Sight

Love at First Sight is the motto of the group exhibition presented at Kolly Gallery from May 12th – 28th 2022. It describes a sudden, instinctive and positive feeling of a great thing; this can be love, a new piece of clothing or a hobby. Ben Eine’s and his fellow artist’s hearts beat for art and somehow for the city of Zurich.

Solo Exhibition – Ben Eine
Location – Zurich
Dates – 15.05.22 – 28.05.22

Press Release

Discover Artworks

As part of the exhibition, Ben Eine invited an impressive ensemble of artists who feel the same way to Zurich: Voyder (UK), TeachDDS (UK), HowNosm (USA) and Sickboy (UK).

The exhibition consists of their different styles, including lettering, surrealistic pop, as well as graphic influences. The various artworks encompass first-class craftsmanship, a variety of techniques and intricate detail. Ben Eine inspired the choice of the artistis within the group show, because he admires and enjoys “hanging out” with them, metaphorically as well as literally. The artistic paths of the five world-renowned artists have all one common ground – graffiti.

The exhibition at the Kolly Gallery aims to reflect the core values of art, culture and graffiti. It is about inclusion instead of isolation. The most important aspect is, that different people and communities come together to perceive, experience and exchange about the phenomenon of art.

„I admire and just like to hang out with those guys.“

Ben Eine, 2022.

BENEINE

Ben Flynn, better known as Ben Eine, is a graffiti writer and street artist from London. He is best known for his alphabet lettering on shop fronts in the London boroughs of Shoreditch, Brick Lane and Broadway Market.

Eine first became known in the ‘commercial’ graffiti scene through his symbiotic partnership with London graffiti artist Banksy; through Eine, Banksy gained access to the underground scene and through Banksy, Eine gained access to the commercial world. Ben Eine is known for his iconic, highly recognisable and numerous lettering styles such as Shutter, Circus, Neon, Elton, Vandalism, Tenderloin and Wendy. The sheer arrangement of the letterforms is usually accompanied by a clever ironic twist in the content, as suggested by the words on the canvases. The series features artworks that are particularly interesting in their choice of colour and visual execution. Visibility and invisibility are in constant interplay in the artworks.

HOWNOSM

SUMMER SOLSTICE
2022, airbrush paint, acrylic, India ink, spray paint on archival paper
120 x 94 cm

HOWNOSM

HowNosm’s iconic artistic identity incorporates formats, the colors red, black, and white-based with the addition of grey and pink gradients. Their signature and complex structure of imagery is instantly recognizable and commands attention through the impressive size and dense detail. Their technical mastery offer endless options to create art works of intricate detail and multi layered opulence.

How and Nosm (Raoul and Davide Perré) are identical twin brothers known for their large scale murals and fine art that adorn city and galleries around the globe. In 1988, they first encountered graffiti as young teenagers. Before the aerosol cans were first introduced, skateboarding and tagging were the primary inspirations and influences.

SICKBOY

Sickboy’s artworks are colourful, dynamic and rich in imagery. His artworks juxtapose abstract and figurative aspects that are arranged in a multi-dimensional universe. His style could be described as neo-surrealistic, cosmic and expressionist. Throughout his artists path he has been inspired by Picasso, Hundertwasser and Gaudi as well as Spanish street artist La Mano.

Originally being trained in fine arts, over the years Sickboy developed a unique style of painting graffiti as well as working on canvas. Notably he was one of the few graffiti writes that utilized a character or symbol (of a temple), instead a name or tag to leave his marks in the streets. The artist conventionally exhibits his work in art galleries around the world.

TEACH DDS

Known for his distinct styles and characterful throw ups, TeachDDS‘s artworks are still focused on the various interplay of calligraphy and lettering. His working materials vary from paper artworks to steel. The abstraction is inherent in letters, which is why Teach’s artworks can be seen as abstract painting as well as intricate composition of words.

Teach has been active since the 1990s and a member of London’s infamous DDS (Diabolic Dubstars) crew. They were known as the ‚Kings of the London Underground‘, who influenced a whole generation of younger writers, regarding their ethos on the culture to the hand style, throw-up’s, trains and consistency.

VOYDER

Voyder’s artistic work explores the juxtaposition photorealistic traditional portrait painting with the primary graffiti aesthetic; the tag. The two main compositions of his style arose individually and separately. He began with graffiti in his youth and was part of different crews, where he mastered different styles of lettering. When boredom set in, he discovered his passion for oil painting and made detailed and figurative paintings exclusively on canvas. Nowadays he brings those opposed styles together in elegant and precious fine art paintings. The three pieces represented at Kolly Gallery showcase three traditional disciplines of art history; the landscape, the portrait and the still life.

In 2001 he started writing graffiti, embracing and becoming fully involved with the graffiti scenes in Bristol and London for twenty years. Graffiti led Voyder to develop an appreciation for paint, colour theory and composition and over time an interest in narrative and concepts within art. Since combining portrait painting and tagging he exhibited his works in various galleries around the world and likes to participate in different urban art festivals.