 | A major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject.(April 2019) |
Benedict Blackstone Evans CBE (born September 1963) is a British designer, currently the director of the London Design Festival, [1] and Executive Director of London Design Biennale, [2] which he co-founded with Sir John Sorrell in 2003 and 2016 consecutively. [3] He is an advocate and campaigner for the creative industries. [4] [5]
The son of Tom Evans and Tessa Blackstone, Baroness Blackstone, Ben Evans is director of the London Design Festival, [6] [7] [8] which he co-founded in 2003, and co-produces with Sir John Sorrell. [7] The Festival is an annual event involving 300 partner organisations and attracts over 900,000 individual visits. As well as managing the Festival, Evans initiates, commissions and curates projects [9] for the event including an annual residency in the V&A museum; [10] along with directing Global Design Forum. [11]
In 2016 he added a new activity — London Design Biennale [12] — with the third edition taking place in September 2020. This biannual exhibition, staged at Somerset House, invited participating countries and cities to exhibit original design installations in response to a theme. Installations were curated by museums and design organisations. Evans is the Executive Director of the Biennale.
Evans has been a governor of the University of the Arts London, [13] a board member of the Roundhouse,[ citation needed ] and a trustee of Artangel. [14] Since 2017 Evans has become Chairman of the Mayor's Cultural Leaders Board [15] —a statutory advisory group to the London Mayor.
In 2010 Evans was awarded an honorary degree from the Royal College of Art, [16] having lectured there for a number of years, and graduated from in 1989 with a MA in History Of Design.[ citation needed ]
In the 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours, Evans was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to the creative industries. [17]
Evans was born in London. [18] He married architect Amanda Levete in 2007 and has 3 children from his previous marriage. He is the son of Tom Evans and Tessa Blackstone. [19] Evan is an Arsenal F.C. fan. He developed a keen interest in architecture and design upon attending a lecture delivered by Richard Rogers at the age of 15. [20]
Tessa Ann Vosper Blackstone, Baroness Blackstone, is an English politician and university administrator.
Jeremy Deller is an English conceptual, video and installation artist. Much of Deller's work is collaborative; it has a strong political aspect, in the subjects dealt with and also the devaluation of artistic ego through the involvement of other people in the creative process. He won the Turner Prize in 2004 and represented Great Britain at the Venice Biennale in 2013.
Sir Martin Stuart Sorrell is a British businessman and the founder of WPP plc, the world's largest advertising and PR group, both by revenue and the number of staff. Upon being ousted in April 2018, Sorrell was the longest-serving chief executive of a FTSE 100 company.
Raf Jan Simons is a Belgian fashion designer. Beginning in furniture design, Simons launched his own menswear label in 1995. He was creative director at Jil Sander (2005–2012), Christian Dior (2012–2015), and Calvin Klein (2016–2018). As of 1 April 2020, he is the co-creative director of Prada, in partnership with Miuccia Prada.
The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity is a global event for those working in creative communications, advertising, and related fields. It is considered the largest gathering of the advertising and creative communications industry.
Richard Wentworth is a British artist, curator and teacher.
Amanda Jane Levete, CBE, RA is a Stirling Prize-winning Welsh architect and the principal of AL_A.
London Design Festival is a citywide design event that takes place over nine days every September across London. It was conceived by Sir John Sorrell and Ben Evans CBE in 2003 and celebrated its 20th edition in September 2022.
Outset Contemporary Art Fund is an arts charity established in 2003, and based in London, England.
Lowie Vermeersch is a Flemish designer, part of the third generation of a prominent artistic family. He is the Founder & Creative Director of Granstudio in Turin, Italy.
Esmeralda Devlin is an English artist and stage designer who works in a range of media, often mapping light and projected film onto kinetic sculptural forms. She has received several accolades including a Tony Award and two Olivier Awards. She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2015 and Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2022 by Queen Elizabeth II for services to design. She was recognized as one of the BBC's 100 women of 2013.
John Joseph Paul Studzinski, CBE is an American-British investment banker and philanthropist. Since September 2018 he has been Managing Director and Vice Chairman of the global investment-management firm PIMCO.
The Creative Industries Federation (2014-2021) was a national organisation for all the UK's creative industries, cultural education and arts. It advocated for the sector, aiming to ensure that the creative industries were central to political, economic and social decision-making.
Lisa Marie Reihana is a New Zealand artist. Her video work, In Pursuit of Venus [Infected] (2015), which examines early encounters between Polynesians and European explorers, was featured at the 2017 Venice Biennale.
Sir John Sorrell is a British designer and an advocate and campaigner for creative education and for the creative industries.
Tony Chambers is a Creative Director, Design Consultant and Editor. He is the Founder and Director of design consultancy TC & Friends and co-chair of Brainstorm Design, Fortune Magazine's annual design and business conference held in Singapore. From 2003 to 2018 he served as Brand and Content Director, Editor-in-Chief and Creative Director of Wallpaper* Magazine, for which he still contributes. It has been said that "he is one of the most influential arbiters of taste in the design world".
A number of politicians, public figures, newspapers and magazines, businesses and other organisations endorsed either the United Kingdom remaining in the EU or the United Kingdom leaving the EU during the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum.
Frances Mary Sorrell, Lady Sorrell, is a British designer and a renowned advocate and campaigner for creative education. She was the Chancellor of the University of Westminster from June 2015-2020.
Jonathan Alistair James Reekie is a British arts administrator who has been the Director of Somerset House Trust since 2014. During this time, the renovation of the historic site has been completed, including the launch of Somerset House Studios, helping to establish Somerset House as "London's Working Arts Centre", home to a creative community in central London. Reekie has overseen the expansion of the cultural programme, including PJ Harvey's Recording in Progress with Artangel, Björk Digital, Big Bang Data, Perfume, and Get Up, Stand Up Now. In 2019, Reekie co-curated with Sarah Cook the exhibition 24/7, a wake-up call to a non-stop world, based on the book by Jonathan Crary.
Samuel Ross is a British fashion designer, creative director, and artist. He is known for founding the fashion label A-COLD-WALL*, Industrial Design studio SR_A SR_A, and the Black British Artists Grants Programme. Since founding these organisations, Ross has collaborated with companies such as Apple, LVMH, Nike. Ross's output is often characterised as "social architecture for the body", captured through abstraction, brutalism, and deconstruction.