As a lot of artists I try to highlight, I discovered Benka while I was scrolling the Explorer page on Instagram. I just saw one pieces, with a chaotic but lovely composition. There was a lot of colors, numbers, letters; everything was inconstent but balanced in the end. And I loved that! As soon as I shared it on the page, it was a success!
As a lot of artists I try to highlight, I discovered Benka while I was scrolling the Explorer page on Instagram. I just saw one pieces, with a chaotic but lovely composition. There was a lot of colors, numbers, letters; everything was inconstent but balanced in the end. And I loved that! As soon as I shared it on the page, it was a success!
I asked him for an interview, and he instantly agreed! So here some words frome Benka, for Madrigal Magazine:
First things first: can you tell us a bit more about yourself? Who you are, where are you from and since how long have you been an artist?
Born 1983 in Abu Dhabi from a French mother and an Algerian father, I had the opportunity to live in several places of the world during my childhood. I spent most of my time in Vienna, Austria, where I lived for 10 years. After my baccalaureate, I joined several bands as a drummer. In 2006 I left Austria for Nice, France where I joined different bands with whom we made two albums and many concerts across Europe. It was also in Nice that I began to take an interest to smartphone addiction and the robotization of our society. Theme that I would take up first for my master's degree in clinical psychology and subsequently in my paintings. I’ve been painting since my childhood; at the age of 6 my parents allowed me to paint on the walls of the apartment, that probably had a big influence on my creativity! My parents have always encouraged me in my artistic composition.
I owe them a lot.
In art, I am a “pure self-taught product”.
After several years of intensive self-discovery, learning art history, trying out different materials, styles & techniques; today I think I have taken the first step which defines me as an artist. Both in my composition technique and in the message I want to convey.
Is the current period a good opportunity to create or you struggled because of the strange atmosphere? Did the lockdown change anything in the way you consider Art?
This period didn’t change much for me except that I had to stock up on canvas and paint since the stores closed for a while. Like most artists, I think that being in front of a canvas, even in "normal" times, requires some form of confinement, both physical and intellectual.
Do you have any particular influences or references in the Art field?
Absolutely yes. It is for me inconceivable or arrogant to pretend to be who I am today without having observed other artists, learned from their technique and their own influences. I have always admired the elegance of Cy Twombly’s painting, the strength of Jean-Michel Basquiat, the efficiency of Mark Rothko, the emotion of Pierre Soulages, the “complex simplicity” of Katherine Bernhardt and the raw beauty of Joe Bradley. They are all like teachers for me.
About your style now : how would you define it yourself? Is it a way to express something wild? Deconstructed?
I consider my artistic production to be a “hazardous destiny”. Which might seem contradictory... Being a believer, I consider that the result of my artistic production is not in my hands, but there is at the same time a free will which is entirely my responsibility such as for example adding a red line on the right or erasing a part at the bottom to the left. Regarding my style, I'll say it's an organized chaos.
What is the purpose of the numbers, letters and symbols you put on your works? This reminds me of something mystical or, at least, secret and unrevealed. Do you try to get those kinds of feelings?
My artistic approach aims to expose the question of the robotization of our world. If we are still very far from a war against robots as seen in the series of Terminator, our time calls in my opinion to the questioning of our relationship to artificial intelligence.
If A.I. has a considerable advantage in fields such as medicine or astronomy, on the other hand, it presents many drawbacks and raises both questions and concerns.
As Stephen Hawking pointed out, “the creation of artificial intelligence would be the greatest event in human history. But it could also be the ultimate”.
Whether it is the digitization of our social relationships through the invasion of smartphone screens, the gradual introduction of humanoid such as Aida, Sophia or Erica and cyber-surveillance, our contemporary society is facing a decisive change.
These numbers and letters in my paintings are captchas. A captcha is a program that protects websites from bots by generating tests that humans can perform unlike malicious computer programs (robots). The captcha is used to verify, for example, that you are a human when connecting to an interface (login) or to avoid "SPAM" on your mailboxes for contact forms on your website. The captcha has become the symbol of my artistic struggle.
Also, your color palette is pretty strange: it seems that the colors are past, and old; like this is painted over an old wall. Do you have any specific research around that?
Ah, you think? Yet I use many neon colours as well.
But you strike a good point: by using a white grainy background on raw canvas to superimpose the captchas and colours on it I like to achieve this somewhat rough result, like a wall, that can be seen in the street.
The size of your canvas is also impressive! Do you like to work over those oversized canvas? For what reason? Do you think this is more powerful this way?
In reality the canvases are not that big. This is no doubt due to the way in which I present them and depending on how I would like to have them.
The largest is 170x180 cm…
To be honest, I have never been able to afford a studio, especially here in Munich where it is completely overpriced even for 10m². So, my living room is actually my studio - to the delight of my wife and my children, but this limits the format of my paintings which is a little frustrating.
I would like one day to have the possibility of having a studio which could allow me to paint in even larger formats; definitely one of my goals as an artist.
The main reason why I like painting on oversized canvas is that I do not know how to paint in small format, I find it extremely difficult.
But large formats are not necessarily more powerful but rather more impressive...
Finally, do you look at what other artists are doing? What are your thoughts about contemporary art, and today's art field in general?
Yes, I watch what other artists are doing. It allows me to discover very beautiful things, to get to know other artists and to keep the motivation to work, work and work. There is something that I know from my musical career and which is very present in the art world too: competition. Which is good in itself. As I was telling you, this allows a certain motivation which spices up artistic production. Of course, I cannot generalize but I must say that in the art world there is a rather unhealthy competition ... which reflects the art world in general. I recommend this excellent documentary by Marianne Lamour entitled "La Ruée vers l´art" which corresponds very well to my thoughts.
But when you want to participate in this artistic world you know what to expect. There is no disillusion for me, either you accept it, or you put down the brushes. Between the arrogance of certain art galleries, the hate of certain comments on social networks, the commodification of your paintings, criticism ... etc. you do not do this for pleasure ... you must be passionate and strong in your head.
Which artists do you recommend following today?
Oh, a lot, being very diplomatic I would not want to favour anyone and therefore I would have to quote them all!
I see many emerging artists who have a lot of talent and who also have the merit of being human in the good sense of the term. I invite you to discover them on my Instagram account (artists that I follow).
Are there any future projects that you can talk of, and what are you currently working on? Any exhibition soon maybe?
There are - at this time - no projects or exhibitions for me, unfortunately.
As an artist I like to keep busy, improve my work dynamic; I like pressure and working harder:
To use the words of Jaques Brel, "There is no such thing as talent. Talent is to want to do something". You have to work, work, work, fall down, learn from your experience and get back up!
As I told you, I am not master of my destiny, I only have an influence on my free will. I remain focused in my work in order to develop my painting and in the hopes of one day integrating an ambitious art gallery around which I could evolve and flourish as an artist with a big dream to expose one day in New York.
The intensive work, the development of my art, the regularity, the confidence, the artistic collaborations, the determination and the commitment are an integral part of my character and my unalterable desire to paint what I have to say.
Again, I want to thanks A LOT Benka for his kindness and for taking the time. It's always a pleasure for me to talk with artists, because everyone is so different in here! The processes, the styles... All those details are saying something about the people we are talking to, and definitely Benka is one of the best! I can't wait to see him doing exhibition all around the world! Please follow him on his Instagram account : @benka.1 and subscribe to see his latest works!
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