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.
on Hackney Road, 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. [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 [8] (reference no longer valid)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]
In January 2020, Central Saint Martins college named a class room after Ben Eine.[ citation needed ]
