Benjamin Flynn[1] (born 23 August 1970 in London[2]), known professionally as Eine, is an English artist based in London.
Career
Eine became known for his alphabet lettering on shop shutters.[3] Some of these letters have been mapped for ease of finding.[4] He has also taken his lettering to the streets of Paris, Stockholm, Hastings and Newcastle upon Tyne.[5]
Eine first started to explore more commercial avenues in a workshop above the Dragon Bar in Leonard Street, London (since demolished). 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 (POW) 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 (multiple EINE names).
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.
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.[6] The result was that the council treated graffiti as vandalism.[7] The Council has since revised the policy on graffiti, aiming to keep street art that is popular and unoffensive because it attracts tourism.[8] (reference no longer valid)
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.[9] 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.[10] Eine was so surprised that he subsequently created "The Strangest Week", an artwork of giant letters made out of "smileys" along Hackney Road.[11]
Eine's solo show (March 2011) 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.[12] 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.[13] 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.[14]
In 2013, Edition House and Gallery Nelly Duff released "Tenderloin A-Z", a 52-colour silkscreen based on the Tenderloin font.
In 2020 Ben Eine designed a pod for the London Eye's 20th anniversary [15]
Throughout Eine's career, he has made numerous charitable contributions, including donations to Shelter and War Child through sales at Christie's auction house.[16]
Eine joined efforts towards raising awareness and support around mental health with the Movember Foundation and Sotheby’s Charity Auction,[17] 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".[citation needed]
Eine also campaigned for an end to knife crime violence with street art pieces including "Peace Is Possible"[18] and "Stop Knife Crime".[19]
Eine has also created works to support human rights, such as his "Brave" piece,[20] and chosen to participate in exhibitions, like MACAM’s Wall of Contemplation,[21] 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,[22] 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 Joan Miró in supporting the charity through art.
Other endeavours
In January 2018, Eine launched the first collection for his clothing company EINE London,[23] at London Fashion Week: Men's.
In August 2019, Eine launched his creative studio OurTypes.[24] To celebrate the launch of OurTypes he painted every letter of the alphabet on shutters in East London.[25] 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.[26]
There is a chapter on Eine in Street Renegades: New Underground Art[27] by Francesca Gavin and he is also featured in The Art Of Rebellion 2: World Of Urban Art Activism[28] by Christian Hundertmark, and he was featured in Sebastian Peiter's documentary Guerilla Art.[29]
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.
Personal life
In 2018 Eine plead guity to assault by beating and criminal damage against his then girlfriend.[2]
Exhibitions
Solo shows
2018: "Everything Starts Somewhere", Bruton Art Factory, Bruton (UK)[30]
2018: "Everything Starts Somewhere", Stolen Space Gallery, London (UK)[31]
2017: "Home Sweet Homeless", Jealous Gallery, London (UK)[32]
2017: "STREET ART", Heather James Fine Art, Palm Desert (USA)
2015: "Your Not My Type", StolenSpace Gallery, London (UK)[33]
2014: "HEARTFELT", Judith Charles Gallery, New York (USA)[34]
2013: "INNOCENCE", Corey Helford Gallery, Los Angeles (USA)[35]
2013: "OUCH", Project One Gallery, San Francisco (USA]
2012: "COLOR OR COLOUR", Charles Bank Gallery, New York (USA)[36]
2011: "Love/Hate", Megumi Ogita Gallery, Tokyo (Japan)[37]
2011: "GREATEST", White Walls, San Francisco (USA)[38]
2009: "EINE World Record Attempt Show", Nelly Duff, London (UK)[39]
2009: "The A-Z of Change", Carmichael Gallery, Los Angeles (USA)[40]
2008: "When The Lights Go Out" – Andenken Gallery, Denver, (USA)[41]
2007: Vandalism – Kemistry Gallery, London, (UK)
2007: Portobello Film Festival – Westbourne Studios, London, (UK)
Group shows
2022: "Ben Eine and Friends", Kolly Gallery, Zurich[42]
2019: "Wall Of Contemplation", MACAM, Byblos (Lebanon)[43]
2019: "20 Years Smiling With Friends", Stolen Space Gallery, London (UK)[44]
2019: "Random Acts of Kindness", Semi Skimmed Gallery, London (UK)
