"Ben Newman has developed a distinct aesthetic over the years; a contemporary fusion of bold shapes, bright colours and playful characters which has been described as 'bauhaus fuzzy felt.' He has produced work for a large range of clients, including the Tate Modern, New York Times, BBC Radio 4, Google and Volkswagon. His practice extends outside of commerical work into worldwide exhibitions, three dimensional collaborations and most recently a children's book wit Dr. Dominic Walliman, Professor Astro Cat's Frontiers of Space, published by Flying Eye Books."[1]
Last week at University (Sheffield Hallam) I went to a "Curated By..." lecture that was delivered by guest speaker Ben Newman. I had never heard of him before and was not familiar with his work but i really enjoyed his lecture. I loved the way he presented his lecture, in particular how he told a chronological story, and began by explaining how he became an illustrator, what inspired him and continues to inspire him,what influences he has experienced throughout his life and what work he produces now based on those inspirations and influences.
What I was particularly drawn to (excuse the pun) was his emphasis on using a pencil and ruler as opposed to Illustrator. He confessed that he wasn't very advanced in Illustrator and preferred to work with traditional tools and I immediately felt like I could relate to him. I have always felt that I am not as strong in the Creative Suite as some of my coursemates, and have always felt more comfortable creating things by hand, so to learn that another design has felt like this and has experienced this problem and still managed to find a way to be a successful illustrator definitely gives me hope.
If you head over to his website - http://www.bennewman.co.uk/ - you can see his full portfolio of work, but I have decided to pick out the Masks projects that he did, as these were illustrations that he included in his lecture and I particularly liked them.
"Newman's evocation of primitivism, however, is also layered with a retroactive sense of futuristic fascination. Weird, wily faces are composed with a repetitive mechanical energy reminiscent of Italian Futurism, the graphic rigor of Russian Constructivism and the clunky horror of nineteen-fifties American science-fiction monsters in a faded pulp comic palette. Symmetry offers no solace in these images, at once remarkable reminders of the highly organized aesthetics of the uncivilized and machined abstractions of ritualistic horror." - The Noble Savage [1]
I think that this accompanying passage from the website has helped me to understand why I am so drawn to these works. Art and design from these 20th Century movements have always been a personal favourite of mine and Newman's style has such a strong link to those styles. During my Fine Art course I spent a lot of time looking at artists from the Futuristic movement in the early 20th Century and I remember being fascinated by the colourful works of Umberto Boccioni that I think are vividly mirrored in Newman's illustrations. In addition, futurism led to the constrictivism movements, which of course influenced the Bauhaus movement that Newman has already connected with his work on his website.
I love his work and I love his style, and I think that this lecture gave me a boost of confidence that I didn't have before. However, his emphasis on using traditional tools and his strong connections to 20th century movements lead me to believe that some people may deem his work dated. What do you think?
Citations
Newman, Ben (2014). Ben Newman. [online]. Last accessed 5th August 2014 at www.bennewman.co.uk
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