Ben Eine

Artist’s Statement
“STREET ARTISTS WANT TO ADD SOMETHING TO THE ENVIRONMENT. THEY CONSIDER THE AUDIENCE, WHEREAS GRAFFITI WRITERS DON’T CARE ABOUT ANYONE EXCEPT THEMSELVES, THEY DO IT PURELY FOR THE KICK.”
Biography
Born in London, Ben Eine is one of the most successful letterform artists in the world and is regarded as a pioneer in the exploration of contemporary typography art. Originally a graffiti writer, Eine started his career over 30 years ago, leaving his first tag all over London before developing his distinct typographic style.

Eine began painting huge, bright and colourful letters on shutters all over East London, creating beautiful forms executed with a relentless “graffiti mentality” – painting over sixty shutters in a couple of months. These imposing and engaging, yet unattributed, anonymously-painted letters stood out from the usual tags and dubs seen on the streets. They caught the public’s attention and were seminal in the rise of street art’s popularity.

Eine’s partnership with the, then emerging, London graffiti artist Banksy was hugely influential to the commercial success of both artists. In 2003 The pair set up the famous Pictures on Walls gallery, with a loose collective of other artists, in order to print and sell street art. POW was established in the spirit of Punk’s DIY movement because, as Eine recalls; “There wasn’t one gallery in London or the world that would touch what we were doing”.

Eine’s international acclaim was further heightened when the UK Prime Minister David Cameron gifted his ‘Twenty First Century City’ artwork to President Obama in 2010. His work is now held in the permanent collections of the V&A Museum London, The Museum of Modern Art Los Angeles, San Francisco’s Museum of Contemporary Art, Berlin’s Urban Nation Street Art Museum, Los Angeles ‘Beyond The Streets’ and The Dean Collection as well as the private collection of Louis Vuitton and numerous other commercial institutions.

Fashion has always been a love of Eine’s. He enjoys an on-going collaboration with Louis Vuitton as well as his own clothing brand, Eine London, which was launched with great success at London Fashion Week 2018.

Eine’s painted shop shutters and murals can still be found all over the world. His distinctive letters continue to spell words and phrases across walls from London to LA, Florence to Tokyo. He continues to use street art to engage and surprise the public. In 2018 Eine unveiled the largest street art work in the world; the ‘CREATE’ mural – a 17500 square foot artwork painted on industrial ground in East London that is visible from space.

Source: einesigns.com
Exhibitions
SOLO SHOWS
2018: “Everything Starts Somewhere”, Bruton Art Factory, Bruton
2018: “Everything Starts Somewhere”, Stolen Space Gallery, London
2017: “Home Sweet Homeless”, Jealous Gallery, London
2017: “STREET ART”, Heather James Fine Art, Palm Desert
2015: “Your Not My Type”, StolenSpace Gallery, London
2014: “HEARTFELT”, Judith Charles Gallery, NYC
2013: “INNOCENCE”, Corey Helford Gallery, Los Angeles
2013: “OUCH”, Project One Gallery, San Francisco
2012: “COLOR OR COLOUR”, Charles Bank Gallery, NYC
2011: “Love/Hate”, Megumi Ogita Gallery, Tokyo
2011: “GREATEST”, White Walls, San Francisco
2009: “EINE World Record Attempt Show”, Nelly Duff, London
2009: “The A-Z of Change”, Carmichael Gallery, Los Angeles
2008: “When The Lights Go Out” - Andenken Gallery, Denver
2007: Vandalism - Kemistry Gallery, London
2007: Portobello Film Festival - Westbourne Studios, London

GROUP SHOWS
2019: “Wall Of Contemplation”, MACAM, Byblos
2019: “20 Years Smiling With Friends”, Stolen Space Gallery, London
2019: “Random Acts of Kindness”, Semi Skimmed Gallery, London
2019: “XYZ”, GoGallery, Amsterdam
2019: “Lucky 13 Anniversary Show Pt. 1: Fine Art of Street & Graffiti”, Corey Helford Gallery, Los Angeles
2018: “ALL CAPS”, LCD Gallery, Houston
2018: “Crossover”, Galerie Kronsbein, Munich
2018: “For All Mankind”, Attollo Art, London
2018: “Emerging to Established”, Krause Gallery, NYC
2018: “Transcript”, Charlie Smith London, London
2018: “Opening”, Urban Nation Museum, Berlin
2017: “In Memoriam Francesca Lowe”, Charlie Smith London, London
2016: “Urban Art Preview”, Galerie Kronsbein, Munich
2016: “Uplift”, Black Book Gallery, Englewood
2015: “MUCA COLLECTION”, MUCA, Munich
2014: “Spectrum”, StolenSpace Gallery, London
2014: “Amazing Summer”, MUCA, Munich
2014: “M/5”, Urban Nation Museum, Berlin
2013: “The Wooster Collective 10th Anniversary Show”, Jonathan LeVine Gallery, Jersey City
2012: “Winter Group Show”, White Walls Gallery, San Francisco
2012: “Love & Hate”, Stolen Space Gallery, London
2012: “Street Art: from the Victoria and Albert Museum, London and Libya”, Dar Al Fagi Hassan Art Gallery, Tripoli
2011: “Unfair: Part 1”, Whisper Gallery, London
2011: “MTV: RE:DEFINE”, Goss-Michael Foundation, Dallas
2011: “Art in the Streets”, Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Los Angeles
2011: “Gossip Well Told”, Moniker, London
2011: “Zero-Sixty” Corey Helford Gallery, Los Angeles
2011: “Street Art - Meanwhile in deepest East Anglia, thunderbirds were go”, Von Der Heydt Museum, Wuppertal
2011: “The Beer Mat Show”, Cedar Lewisohn, London
2010: “Faces”, Electric Blue Gallery, London
2009: “Corked”, Cork Street Gallery, London
2008: “4 Geezers”, Ad Hoc Art, NYC (The London Police, Flying Fortress, Pez and Eine)
2008: “Urban Art” Weserburg Museum of Modern Art, Bremen
2008: “Make Over”, Stella Dore Gallery, London
2008: “Cans Festival”, Leake Street, London
2008: “Stella Dore” Sebastian Guinness Gallery, Dublin
2007: “Santa's Ghetto”, West Bank, Bethlehem
2007: “For Life, Not Just For Christmas” Open Studio Spaces, London
2007: “Urban Sprawl”, Leonard Street Gallery, London
2007: “Eleven”, Leonard Street Gallery, London
2006: “Santa's Ghetto”, Oxford Street, London
2006: “UK Jack OK”, Colette, Paris
2005: “Santa's Ghetto”, Oxford Street, London
2005: “POW Group Show”, Allmänna Galleriet, Stockholm
2004: “Santa's Ghetto”, Oxford Street, London
2003: “Banksy vs Eine”, Gallery V1, Copenhagen
2002: “We Like Printing”, Alife, NYC
2002: “We Like Printing”, Artomatic, London
Website
einesigns.com