BEN QWEK - Singapore

GIVE US A BRIEF HISTORY OF YOU.
I grew up in a cosmopolitan Singapore, influences are diverse and cultures converge. Aspiring to be a multi disciplinary artist, I'm always striving to create distinctive visuals that fuses various influences and design communication. I'm a crossover artist from the world of graphic design and street art. I straddle between mainstream illustration and adding a street edge to my art.

WHAT PROJECTS ARE YOU EXCITED ABOUT NOW?
Tiger Translate Event in London. Its gonna be BIG. Some gigs with Nike, Onitsuka Tiger and Street Fighter4 Tees are making me smile.



TELL US ABOUT THE SCENE YOU ARE IN RIGHT NOW.
There's more art awareness now. You can actually make a living from art now. You see more independent publications and gallery spaces in LA and London. In Singapore too, its growing and I'm glad to be part of it

TELL US ABOUT YOUR WORK, THE PEOPLE YOU MEET AND HOW THIS INSPIRES YOU.
I don't really have a “fixed style” and kinda like to do something different in both concept and execution. But at the end, the piece still looks like a MRB's piece. It's great to meet other artists, they may be in the same scene, but have different perspective of art than yourself, so there will be a crossover of ideas.

DESCRIBE YOUR GENERATION.
Being an individual. You see people paying good mula for customs or limited eds or heavily customized blogs, myspace, etc. I guess my generation's all about that in short.

LOOK INTO YOUR CRYSTAL BALL AND TELL US WHAT YOU SEE.
I'm hoping to have my own art show in the near future and more exposure overseas. As for my scene, it may get over saturated...art is not a trend, its a lifestyle.



WHO DO YOU ADMIRE?
I really admire artists like, Sam Weber, James Jean, Paul Pope and Kozydan. They are the hottest new generation of artist.



TELL US MORE ABOUT THE DESIGN AND ART YOU ENCOUNTER.
The best thing about visiting different cities is that it really opens your mind creatively. You experience a whole new culture in that short span of time. Its like boot camp. With that, I usually come back home with new insights and try to apply them to my art.



WHAT WOULD YOU DO TO SHAKE UP YOUR GENERATION?
Create better art.





CONTACT ARTISTS: AWE5OME

LINKS: www.benqwek.com

BLOG: MRB BLOG