Ben Eine


Benjamin Flynn, known professionally as Eine, is an English artist based in London.

Life and career

Eine became known for his alphabet lettering on shop shutters. Some of these letters have been mapped for ease of finding. He has also taken his lettering to the streets of Paris, Stockholm, Hastings and Newcastle upon Tyne.
Eine first started to explore more commercial avenues in a workshop above the Dragon Bar in Leonard Street, London. Eine produced a number of custom clothing designs notably some custom "VANDALS" sweatshirts and started to explore screen prints, eventually founding the cult screen print company Pictures On Walls with Banksy. Eine produced many of the hand pulled prints for artists represented by POW including Jamie Hewlett, Mode2, Modern Toss and David Shrigley. His natural talent for colour combinations meant that he was able to enhance the work supplied by the artists. He left this position to continue to pursue his own solo career in 2008.
At this time Eine contributed to sticker graffiti and was prolific in East London with his neon and black EINE stickers.
Eine first came to prominence in the "commercial" graffiti scene through his symbiotic partnership with the London graffiti artist Banksy; through Eine, Banksy was able to access the underground scene and through Banksy Eine accessed the commercial world.
, London
In his commercial work he has produced numerous lettering styles including Shutter, NewCircus, Neon, Elton, Vandalism, Tenderloin and Wendy.
In 2007, the Tower Hamlets Partnership began to survey residents of Brick Lane to ask whether they considered his graffiti offensive and should be removed.. The result was that the council treated graffiti as vandalism. The Council has since revised the policy on graffiti, aiming to keep street art that is popular and unoffensive because it attracts tourism.
In May 2010 Ben Eine painted a complete alphabet on Middlesex Street in East London. The shutters and murals on which he painted his colours and typography can be seen in London's Shoreditch, Brick Lane and Broadway Market areas. Middlesex Street was re-christened Alphabet Street by the residents and described by The Times as "a street now internationally recognized as a living piece of art with direct links to The White House".
In July 2010, President Barack Obama was presented with a painting by Eine, Twenty First Century City, as an official gift from the British prime minister, David Cameron.. Eine was so surprised that he subsequently created "The Strangest Week", an artwork of giant letters made out of "smileys" along Hackney Road.
Eine's solo show at White Walls gallery in San Francisco sold out prior to opening. He was also included in the biggest exhibition of street art to date "Art in the Streets" at MOCA, Los Angeles, in April 2011.
Eine's work was featured at Art Below's The Peace Project. His work at the show contained his graffiti typography. One of his pieces that simply spelled out the word love titled "Circus Love" was displayed at Regent's Park. This had previously being featured in Art Below's July 2012 show where it was placed on the wall of Oxford Circus tube station on the Central Line. Eine joined a growing list of street artists who have exhibited with Art Below such as Banksy, Inkie, Mike Ballard and Goldie.
In 2012, the typographer Chank Diesel released Tenderloin, a free font designed in collaboration with Eine.
In 2013, Edition House and Gallery Nelly Duff released "Tenderloin A-Z", a 52-colour silkscreen based on the Tenderloin font.
On 10 July 2018, Eine pleaded guilty to assault by beating and criminal damage, as a result of an incident on 6 June 2018 at a private viewing of the artist Tomma Abts' exhibition at the Serpentine Sackler Gallery. Testimony provided during the court hearing indicated that Eine physically assaulted his girlfriend in response to her accusation of cheating, during their attendance at the exhibition. She testified, "He punched me in the face … in the mouth with a clenched fist, with some force. I was bleeding from the mouth."
In January 2020, Central Saint Martins college named a class room after Ben Eine.

Charitable work

Throughout Eine's career, he has made numerous charitable contributions, including donations to Shelter and War Child through sales at Christie's auction house.
Eine joined efforts towards raising awareness and support around mental health with the Movember Foundation and Sotheby’s Charity Auction, who launched a sale of ten dynamic new works from acclaimed street artists across the globe. Spearheaded by the artist D*Face, the initiative included original pieces from Felipe Pantone, Shepard Fairey, Jonathan Yeo, Invader, Okuda, Alexis Diaz, Conor Harrington and Vhils. Collectively, "each artist created an agenda-setting piece motivated by, and aimed at nurturing, open conversations surrounding men’s mental health and suicide prevention".
Eine also campaigned for an end to knife crime violence with street art pieces including "Peace Is Possible" and "Stop Knife Crime".
Eine has also created works to support human rights, such as his "Brave" piece, and chosen to participate in exhibitions, like MACAM’s Wall of Contemplation, which celebrated the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Youth empowerment and development has also been an issue Eine ha contributed towards by participating in projects such as Youth Unity Day, to inspire positivity and draw young people away from violence.
In 2011, Eine was invited by Amnesty International to design its 50th anniversary poster, joining other artists such as Picasso and Miro in supporting the charity through art.

Other endeavours

In January 2018, Eine launched the first collection for his clothing company EINE London, at London Fashion Week: Men's.
In August 2019, Eine launched his creative studio OurTypes. To celebrate the launch of OurTypes he painted every letter of the alphabet on shutters in East London. OurTypes is a multidisciplinary creative studio focused on words. It collaborates with other artists on font releases and global brands on commercial projects. In August 2019, OurTypes launched Eine's most notorious typeface, New Circus font, for personal use.

Eine in popular culture

In January 2008, Eine was featured in an article in London's Time Out magazine as one of the six best new street artists working in the capital.
There is a chapter on Eine in Street Renegades: New Underground Art by Francesca Gavin and he is also featured in The Art Of Rebellion 2: World Of Urban Art Activism by Christian Hundertmark, and he was featured in Sebastian Peiter's documentary Guerilla Art.
Eine's lettering is often used in magazines and promotional material. His work was used prominently by the pop group Alphabeat and in Duffy's music video for "Stepping Stone" and also, briefly, in Snow Patrol's video for "Take Back the City". Eine’s work can also be seen in the streets of the video game Grand Theft Auto.

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, New York
2013: "INNOCENCE", Corey Helford Gallery, Los Angeles
2013: "OUCH", Project One Gallery, San Francisco
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, New York
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, 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, New York
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, New York
2002: "We Like Printing", Artomatic, London

Art fairs and festivals

2019: Youth Unity Day, London
2019: Art Car Boot Fair, London
2019: Nuart, Aberdeen
2019: SCOPE New York, Corey Helford Gallery, New York
2018: Manchester Art Fair, Leon Martyn, Manchester
2018: Beyond The Streets, Los Angeles
2018: Mural Festival, Montreal
2018: CONTEXT Art Miami, Black Book Gallery, Miami
2018: Moniker Art Fair, Landmark Street Art, London
2018: Moniker International Art Fair Brooklyn, Spoke Art, New York
2017: CONTEXT Art Miami, Black Book Gallery, Miami
2017: Art Miami, Vroom & Varossieau, Miami
2017: London Art Fair, Jealous Gallery, London
2016: CONTEXT Art Miami, Black Book Gallery, Miami
2016: London Original Print Fair, Jealous Gallery, London
2014: ARTMUC, MUCA, Munich
2012: SCOPE New York, Corey Helford Gallery, New York
2011: SCOPE Miami, White Walls, Miami
2011: Outpost, Paste Modernism 3, Sydney
2007: Portobello Film Festival, Westbourne Studios, London
2007: Nuart, Stavenger

Talks and juries

2019: "Contemporary Art by Ben Eine", Pixel Show, Sao Paulo
2019: "The Written Word", The British Library, London
2019: "Inspiring City" Art Republic, Brighton
2018: "Saving Banksy", Talk & Documentary Review at Soho house, Amsterdam
2018: "From Vandalism to Fine Art" TEDx Talk, University of East Anglia, Norwich

Films and documentaries

2019: "Rom Boys", documentary
2018: "X Art", documentary
2017: "Saving Banksy", documentary
2012: "Art Battle L.A." documentary
2011: "Graffiti Wars", documentary
2011: "Outside In: The Story of Art in the Streets", documentary

Radio appearances and podcasts

2019: Killa Kela
2019: Mizog Art
2019: Art Republic
2019: Radio National Australia
2018: Bench Talk 91
2018: BBC Radio
2018: TikiChrisTalks
2015: Berlin Community Radio
2014: Vantage Point Radio
2011: Mike Maxwell