Ben Carter

by on in Art Work Circle, AWC Artists

Biography

Ben Carter is a British artist who has been living in Luxembourg since 2004. He studied at the Kingston University and Central Saint Martins in London.

 

Ben’s graphic design work includes illustrations for Diesel Jeans, The Guardian and New Scientist. He specialised in painting landscapes of Luxembourg and its surroundings.

 

He attended exhibitions at the Cercle Munster, the Château de Bourglinster, the Rockhal, Allen & Overy and many more.

 

Ben’s recent work includes a special edition for POST Luxembourg, which is a panoramic painting of Luxembourg made for the International School of Luxembourg, sculptures made of steel commissioned by Arcelor Mittal as well as numerous paintings for public and private collectors such as the Chamber of Deputies, the European Investment Bank and Léa Linster.

Career

Education

Ben was born in England in 1977 and has spent 6 yeas in Malawi from 1979 to 1985 before moving to the Grand-Duchy with his family, where he attended the Ecole Européenne de Luxembourg. From 1989 to 1996, he went to Millfield School in Somerset, England. Ben successfully completed his GSCE including 3 A Levels in Art, Design and Technological and Business Studies

    • 2001-2003
        • Master’s Degree in Communication Design at Central Saint Martins, including work along with the World Wide Fund to preserve natural sites in Croatia and Hungary. There, he learnt how a graphic designer can help NGOs to address social and environmental matters

 

    • 1997-2000
        • A-Level in Illustration at Kingston University, London

 

    • 1996-1997
        • Studies at Kingston University, London

Exhibitions

Artroom:

In October 2009, Ben and his business partners Emily Pinna (photographer) and Stine Buelow (jewellery designer) created an art studio called Artrooms, the first of its kind in Luxembourg.

The purpose of Artrooms is to give artists and other talented people a location where they can meet and exchange ideas. This creative working space allows the artists to make progress on their respective projects, get an overview as an assessment group, share ideas and meet like-minded art lovers.

There are currently six artists working in the Artrooms.

Work & Accomplishments:

    • Londres
        • travaux de Graphic Design pour Diesel Jeans, The New Scientist, The Guardian.

 

    • Luxembourg
        • plus de 100 peintures qui ont fait l’objet de commandes pour des amateurs d’art privés et des institutions dont : POST Luxembourg, l’International School in Luxembourg, Allen & Overy, Arcelor Mittal, la Chambre des Députés, la Banque Européenne d’Investissement et Léa Linster.

 

    • David Hughes, Ralph Steadman, Damien Hirst, Giacometti, Francis Bacon, Sara Fanelli, Peter Doig, and David Hockney are among his biggest influences.

Other

Techniques:

Ben mostly works with mixed media. Usually, he creates a background with adhesive layers on paper. Then, he sketches the landscape with a pencil and uses a self-developed dry-etching technique.

 

After that, he uses acrylic paint on the work itself, thus creating a very tactile picture.

 

Ben takes pride in developing and applying new working techniques.

 

The first step is to recover plaques from waste and scrap metal. Ben used to do this work by himself, but his recent success allowed him to hire professionals. Metal is cut to the right size while an integrated elevation system forms the shape. Then, he immerses the plaques in acid baths. When the sought-out effect is achieved, the metal is removed and protected against rust formation.

 

The next step consists in getting the landscape on the plaque. This was originally done by turning sketches into stencils.

 

However, the use of stencils isn’t always the best choice as powdered paint can drip on the plaque.

 

To avoid this to happen and get a cleaner and more precise finish, Ben invented a technique, where the plaque is entirely covered in adhesive tape. By using a knife, he draws the image before slowly removing the strip. Then, these exposed areas are sprayed with paint. Once the remaining strip is dry, he removes it, thus revealing the final picture.

Gallery

Art Scene