{"id":1108,"date":"2018-02-01T15:49:44","date_gmt":"2018-02-01T14:49:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.herenplaats.nl\/?post_type=artist&p=1108"},"modified":"2025-09-18T14:16:45","modified_gmt":"2025-09-18T12:16:45","slug":"ben-augustus","status":"publish","type":"artist","link":"https:\/\/www.herenplaats.nl\/en\/artist\/ben-augustus\/","title":{"rendered":"Ben Augustus"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ben Augustus (1960)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Having gazed intensively at the images in nude magazines, Ben brings his pen to paper and slowly but surely fills the page with drawings of these women. His manner of working is remarkable; starting a drawing in one corner slowly making his way to the other. Ben ignores all the laws and rules of composition, lines start and stop erratically.\u00a0 In-between the figures he places apparently arbitrary texts and sex line telephone numbers.
\n<\/b>
\nWhen Ben started in 1994 he was desperately in search of subject matter. We introduced him to new techniques and materials, confronted him with art history and visited numerous galleries.<\/p>\n

In 1995, during a working week in Zeeland, we worked on the theme of “the elements” (earth, air, water and fire). Ben really struggled to understand what we were trying to achieve with this. Ben was born with Down’s syndrome and deafness. Due to this he never learnt to talk properly which makes it very difficult to communicate with him. One evening, when everyone was watching TV, Ben found an old well-thumbed Playboy, he grabbed his sketch book and started drawing the women so that he could take them home with him. Since then, it is the only theme which fascinates him and which constantly recurs in his drawings and paintings.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ben’s working methods have changed in the past few years. In the beginning, he cut pieces out of his drawings and stuck them on new paper, sometimes coloured in with pencil. Countless pages were attentively filled with his drawings. Later Ben also started painting in primary colours and directly out of the pot.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A keen fan of the Rotterdam football club Feyenoord, he often appears in the club’s football kit at work. During the holidays he visits amusement parks (such as Disney World, Movie World and the Efteling). He never misses the Dutch soap “Goede tijden slechte tijden” (“good times, bad times”) on the television. All these subjects regularly appear in Ben’s drawings.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In 2003 Ben\u00a0contributed to\u00a0the cartoon “Pretty Lady” in Fantoche” International Animation Film Festival,\u00a0Baden, Switzerland.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Exhibitions<\/strong><\/p>\n

1997\u00a0 Museum of visionary Art, Baltimore, USA<\/p>\n

1998\u00a0 “Aubes’98”, Gallery des Beaux Arts, Bordeaux, France<\/p>\n

1998\u00a0 Cultural capital ’98 workshop en exhibition, Stockholm, Sweden<\/p>\n

1998\u00a0 The Universal Print Show, Glasgow, England. 1999 Creahm,\u00a0Li\u00e8ge, Belgium<\/p>\n

2000\u00a0 “Tekeningen Manifestatie 2000” (drawings), Rotterdam<\/p>\n

2000\u00a0 MAD-Attack, Muse\u00e9 d’Art Differenci\u00e9, Li\u00e8ge, Belgium<\/p>\n

2001\u00a0 VRC Summer School, University of Dundee, Scotland<\/p>\n

2002\u00a0 “Buiten Zinnen” (Out of Senses), Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen,\u00a0Rotterdam<\/p>\n

2002\u00a0 “Die Welt: Innen Nach Aussen”, Hamburg, Germany<\/p>\n

2003\u00a0 Outsider Art Fair, New York, USA<\/p>\n

2003\u00a0 “Fantoche” International Animation Film Festival,\u00a0participated with the cartoon “Pretty lady” 2001, Baden, Switzerland<\/p>\n

2004\u00a0 Muse\u00e9 de la Cr\u00e9ation Franche, B\u00e9gles, France<\/p>\n

2004\u00a0 Outsider Art Stockholm, Gallery INUTI, Stockholm, Sweden<\/p>\n

2004\u00a0 Art Institute, Chicago, USA<\/p>\n

2005\u00a0 Outsider Art, INUTI, Luna Kulturhus, S\u00f6dert\u00e4lje, Sweden.<\/p>\n

2004\u00a0 Outsider Art Fair, New York, USA<\/p>\n

2004\u00a0 Outsider Art Show, Gallery Herenplaats, Rotterdam<\/p>\n

2004\u00a0 “Folly Drawings”, Gallery Herenplaats, Rotterdam<\/p>\n

2006\u00a0 Jubilee exhibition 15 years Herenplaats, Gallery Herenplaats, Rotterdam.<\/p>\n

2006\u00a0 “INUTI”, Stockholm, Sweden<\/p>\n

2007 \u00a0“World of Herenplaats, Streetart meets Herenplaats”,\u00a0Gallery Herenplaats, Rotterdam<\/p>\n

2007\u00a0 “Heroes of Herenplaats”, Gallery Herenplaats, Rotterdam<\/p>\n

2008\u00a0 Exhibition in Niki Kurabu, Tokyo, Japan<\/p>\n

2008\u00a0 Exhibition in Espacio Liquido, Jovellanos and El Helvedero,\u00a0Gijon, Spaine<\/p>\n

2009\u00a0 Outsider Art Fair, New York, USA<\/p>\n

2009\u00a0 GAIA museum, Denmark, “The art of sex, love and eroticism”<\/p>\n

2009 \u00a0Exhibition Gallery Kempro, “models”, Sterksel,<\/p>\n

2009\u00a0 “Outsider Art”, Galerie De Compagnie, Dordrecht<\/p>\n

2009\u00a0 Rackstadtmusee, Arvika, Sweden, Outsider Art Biennale,\u00a0“Art surrounded by legends and\u00a0wilderness”<\/p>\n

2010 \u00a0“Outsider Art Fair”, New York,\u00a0USA<\/p>\n

2010 \u00a0“Outsider Art Salon”, Gallery Herenplaats, Rotterdam<\/p>\n

2011\u00a0 Novo, Groningen<\/p>\n

2011\u00a0 Down Here, Down Under, Gallery Herenplaats, Rotterdam<\/p>\n

2011\u00a0 Aix Les Bains, France<\/p>\n

2011\u00a0 “Museum of Everything 4”, London, U.K.<\/p>\n

2011\u00a0 “Special P\u00e9cs”, Hungary<\/p>\n

2012\u00a0 Gallery 23, Giessen, Germany<\/p>\n

2012\u00a0 Gallery Alte Turnhalle, Bad D\u00fcrkheim, Germany<\/p>\n

2013\u00a0 Madmus\u00e9e, Li\u00e8ge, Belgium<\/p>\n

2013\u00a0 GROOS, Schieblock, Schiekade, Rotterdam<\/p>\n

2013\u00a0 La Brut, Rotterdam<\/p>\n

2018 “Zomergasten” – Dr. Guislain Museum, Gent (Belgium)<\/p>\n

Collections<\/strong><\/p>\n

Collection de l’Art Brut in Lausanne, Switserland<\/p>\n

Max E. Ammann Collection,\u00a0Switzerland<\/p>\n

Catalogues<\/strong><\/p>\n

1998\u00a0 “Aubes’98”, Bordeaux, France<\/p>\n

1998 \u00a0“\u00c4nglar”, Stockholm, Sweden<\/p>\n

1998\u00a0 “Zonder Omweg 2”, Singer Museum, Laren<\/p>\n

2000\u00a0 “Tekeningen Manifestatie 2000”, Rotterdam. 2001 “Madness”, Rotterdam<\/p>\n

2002\u00a0 “Folly Drawings”, history over the Outsider art by Frits Gronert<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ben Augustus (1960) Having gazed intensively at the images in nude magazines, Ben brings his pen to paper and slowly but surely fills the page with drawings of these women. His manner of working is remarkable; starting a drawing in one corner slowly making his way to the other. Ben ignores all the laws and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":5147,"template":"","class_list":["post-1108","artist","type-artist","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.herenplaats.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist\/1108","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.herenplaats.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.herenplaats.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/artist"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.herenplaats.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.herenplaats.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}