Hermès, Chinese New Year campaign, year of the Rooster
Hermès, Chinese New Year red gift envelopes
New Yorker, review of Jonathan Lee's 'High Dive'
The Fall
Artwork from Beat # 6 published by Heart, an excerpt from 'A Dragon Apparent' Norman Lewis' travels through Vietnam before the war
The New York Times, the allure of the prison break
The New York Times, book review of 'The Little Red Chairs' by Edna O'Brien
Cover for Pushkin Press
Cover for The Lancet, liver disease
Cover for The Lancet, Hepatitis E
Cover of 'A Clockwork Orange' illustrated by Ben, published by The Folio Society
Artwork from 'A Clockwork Orange' illustrated by Ben, published by The Folio Society
Artwork from 'A Clockwork Orange' illustrated by Ben, published by The Folio Society
BBC History magazine, the extraordinary escape of a slave who packaged and addressed himself to an anti-slavery campaigner
The New York Times, who are 'we the people'?
The New York Times, Britain's crime of complicity
The New York Times, book review of 'A Man Lies Dreaming' by Lavie Tidhar
Book cover for 'The Aestheticization of the World' published by Gallimard
Johns Hopkins, the long shadow of a poor start
Control
Book cover for 'On the Way Down' published by Rotland Press
Artwork from 'On The Way Down' a penny dreadful written and illustrated by Ben, published by Rotland Press
The Long and Short, hooking up; should we zap our brains to improve ourselves?
The World Today, the Baltic states
BBC History Magazine, Egyptian mummified cats sold at auction for one penny
BBC History Magazine, Victorian crooks training dogs to steal expensive umbrellas
Cover for The Lancet, paracetamols affect on liver failure and judging when a transplant is needed
Cover for The Lancet, antiviral therapy for chronic hepatitis C
Portrait of Andy Martin
BBC History magazine, the almost exploded goat
Ben was born outside Manchester, England. He studied at Stockport College and has been represented by Heart since 2014.
Ben uses a mixture of printmaking and collage to create his artworks, which are then edited on the computer. He starts with a graphic shape usually using screen or lino printing, he then collages on top of these with textures and found imagery including old Victorian etchings and photographs from old newspapers and magazines along with printmaking elements. Ben likes the idea that he is taking something existing and turning into something new. His artworks appear like ‘thrillers’ or cautionary fairytales, the subject matter so compelling, so odd and intriguing that they illuminate his briefs and subjects. Ben’s work is often historical in feeling but equally resonating, political and with comment. His illustrations are populated by slaves, prisoners, policemen, highway robbers, devils, dragons, tigers and men in suits with hats. His monthly column in BBC History Magazine seems like a natural pairing – unusual and almost unbelievable tales of mummified cats and umbrella thieves. Ben also has a regular commission to illustrate the covers of The Lancet medical journal, an example of Ben’s keen ability to interpret taxing briefs, seemingly difficult to get a visual handle on. Ben works regularly for the New York Times on sensitive social and political subject matters such as the historical allegations of child sex abuse in Britain and the human rights of Muslim detainees. The work he has created under tight deadlines for The New York Times has created a body of work attracting The New Yorker, The Guardian, The World Today, The Economist and the New Statesman.
Beyond editorial work Ben has also produced many book covers working for the French publisher Gallimard, as well as John Murray, Houghton Mifflin and Pushkin Press. He has written a penny dreadful novel ‘On The Way Down’ and a chapbook ‘The Fop’ both published by Rotland Press. His most challenging publishing commission to date has been an illustrated edition of The Clockwork Orange Published by The Folio Society. Ben successfully avoided the obvious pitfall of being influenced by the film. Instead he created a unique visual interpretation of Burgess’ vision. Ben found inspiration in the use of slang and formation of a language, like a collage from existing elements. He looked at illustration and graphic design that was being generated in Eastern Europe in the 1960s. Ben also found out that Burgess was from Manchester and his experience of the city influenced the novel, something in turn Ben chose to explore. The use of a bowler hat on the cover is one nod to Kubrick’s role in making the novel so well known. Overall these reference points and sources of research are lightly worn in the final artwork, but the process has resulted in a fitting and highly considered execution.
Select Client List
BBC History Magazine , The Boston Globe, Clerkenwell Post, DuJour Magazine, easyJet Magazine, The Economist, Éditions Gallimard, The Folio Society, The Guardian, Hermès, Houghton Mifflin, Johns Hopkins Magazine, John Murray Publishers, The Lancet, The Long + Short, New Statesman, The New Yorker, The New York Times, Pushkin Press, The World Today