Light, air, water and movement
100×120 cm
acrylic on canvas
With this series of works Ben Van Dyck wants to point out the fragility of our nature.
Light, air, water and movement
100 x 120 cm
acrylic on canvas
Light, air, water and movement
100×120 cm
acrylic on canvas
Air Water Life
100×120 cm
acrylic on canvas
Light, air, water and movement
100×120 cm
acrylic on canvas
This work with the frog radiates life and movement.
Air Water Life
100×120 cm
acrylic on canvas
Air Water Life
100×120 cm
acrylic on canvas
The light colours, various shades of yellow, blue and green, invite the viewer to cheer up. Ben Van Dyck does include a mild accusation, without playing the preacher. He wants to point out the fragility of our nature. We must treat our surroundings with care and responsibility. In this series of paintings Ben Van Dyck uses two main colours with which he can play to evoke light, air and life. And together that makes the work move. In this setting Ben Van Dyck paints animals. They too radiate strength and life.
Air Water Life
100×140 cm
acrylic on canvas
Nie wieder
90x90cm
acrylic on canvas
Death Zoo
100x100cm
acrylic on canvas
This work comes from a series of ten with themes from Ben’s childhood memories, such as the circus, the fair and the zoo… . They look like cheerful spot-the-difference puzzles, until you look a little more closely. Then they turn out to have a macabre ‘dark side’.
linocut on butcher’s paper (1 of a series of 4)
Sloths and Coffee
acrylic on canvas
Ever since he was young, Ben Van Dyck (b. 1969, Aarschot) has been a passionate draughtsman. In 1986, as a connoisseur of the better Belgian comics, Ben won the Marc Sleen competition, which earned him a role as a comic-strip hero in a Nero story. He picked up his fascination for exotic animals from the comic-strip artist Marc Sleen (1922-2016). In his stories Marc Sleen worked in the animals he encountered on his safari trips with King Leopold III. Ben Van Dyck is a well-known Fleming thanks to the VRT documentary series ‘Het Leven zoals het is’, which ran for years. Ben features prominently in the television series by reporter Arnaut Houven ‘Leve de Zoo!’, in ‘Blueberry Hill’ by Robbe De Hert and in ‘Het Sacrament’ by Hugo Claus. At Antwerp Zoo he is responsible, among other things, for the development of the reptile house. At Planckendael Zoo, the phenomenon Ben becomes head keeper of the elephants and other large mammals. It goes without saying that the animal world becomes an important source of inspiration for his oeuvre. His painting can be divided into large, semi-realistic works with nature as their theme, and cartoon-like paintings in the recurring colours of black, white and red. Ben studied at the art secondary schools in Aarschot and Lier, and then followed a directing course at the RITCS. In his boundless imagination, the giant Ben Van Dyck continues to perfect himself at the Academy of Fine Arts. This bon vivant and artist draws, paints, makes graphic work, writes, performs puppet theatre with self-made puppets of foam rubber or rubber latex and gives lectures on, among other things, the usefulness of the zoo.
“There are four things that interest people: other people, animals, children and misery.” – Ben Van Dyck (photo: David Legreve)
Ben Van Dyck in action
Ben Van Dyck is an Aarschot Greeter
Besides academics who guide visitors around ducal Aarschot, there are non-professional guides. Volunteers who show their favourite gems of the Hageland. They call themselves “Greeters”. The passionate Ben Van Dyck is one of them.
More information and reservations: [email protected]
“I want to introduce people to my fantastic city in a cheerful, relaxed and pleasant atmosphere, because I am proud of my city.” – Ben Van Dyck