Ben DiNino
Ben DiNino is a book and collage artist who has lived in Minnesota for the last decade. He graduated from Tyler School of Art in 1996 with a BFA in Sculpture and a minor in Art History. At the time he was extremely jaded about the art world and didn’t pursue showing his work professionally. Over the next 20 years he continued to make art, trading with other artists, donating work for fundraisers, and generally giving it away. After attending the first Kolaj Fest in New Orleans in 2018 he decided to again become serious about his art practice. Since that time he has been in over 90 exhibitions internationally, has had work featured in a number of print and online publications, has posted a new work everyday on Instagram, and was awarded a public art grant by the city of Minneapolis. He lives in South Minneapolis with his partner and their two children.
ARTIST’S STATEMENT
In my work I strive to shed light on the overlooked or discarded; those items or places that are forgotten or slightly out of focus in the background. By highlighting their existence or reconfiguring them into something unique I hope to breathe new life into these neglected images and objects. The majority of my artistic practice recently has centered on collage. I endeavor to prolong the life of these outdated how-to manuals, old magazines, snap shots, slide film, and any other materials I‘m able to cut up and reassemble. This is also a challenge since I force myself to create something visually interesting or confusing out of what can at times be banal source material. This is what truly excites me when I work. Sitting down with old liquor advertisements or an interior design magazine and experimenting with the photographs in an attempt to push the limitations of the imagery.
Ben DiNino is a book and collage artist who has lived in Minnesota for the last decade. He graduated from Tyler School of Art in 1996 with a BFA in Sculpture and a minor in Art History. At the time he was extremely jaded about the art world and didn’t pursue showing his work professionally. Over the next 20 years he continued to make art, trading with other artists, donating work for fundraisers, and generally giving it away. After attending the first Kolaj Fest in New Orleans in 2018 he decided to again become serious about his art practice. Since that time he has been in over 90 exhibitions internationally, has had work featured in a number of print and online publications, has posted a new work everyday on Instagram, and was awarded a public art grant by the city of Minneapolis. He lives in South Minneapolis with his partner and their two children.
ARTIST’S STATEMENT
In my work I strive to shed light on the overlooked or discarded; those items or places that are forgotten or slightly out of focus in the background. By highlighting their existence or reconfiguring them into something unique I hope to breathe new life into these neglected images and objects. The majority of my artistic practice recently has centered on collage. I endeavor to prolong the life of these outdated how-to manuals, old magazines, snap shots, slide film, and any other materials I‘m able to cut up and reassemble. This is also a challenge since I force myself to create something visually interesting or confusing out of what can at times be banal source material. This is what truly excites me when I work. Sitting down with old liquor advertisements or an interior design magazine and experimenting with the photographs in an attempt to push the limitations of the imagery.
$140.00
Hand cut paper collage.
9.50x11.50x1"
This piece is from a series where I only use scraps left over from larger work. I try to take these refuse bits and rework them into intriguing or confusing compositions.
$140.00
Hand cut paper collage.
9.50x11.50x1"
This piece is from a series where I only use scraps left over from larger work. I try to take these refuse bits and rework them into intriguing or confusing compositions.
$140.00
Hand cut paper collage.
9.50x11.50x1"
This piece is from a series where I only use scraps left over from larger work. I try to take these refuse bits and rework them into intriguing or confusing compositions.
$280.00
Hand cut paper collage.
15.50x12.50x1"
This collage is from a series using home decoration books as source material. I enjoy deconstructing the perfectly placed objects, choosing interesting bits and pieces, and reconfiguring them into confusing piles and materialist totems.
$280.00
Hand cut paper collage.
15.50x12.50x1"
This collage is from a series using home decoration books as source material. I enjoy deconstructing the perfectly placed objects, choosing interesting bits and pieces, and reconfiguring them into confusing piles and materialist totems.
$280.00
Hand cut paper collage.
13x15.50x1"
This collage is the first is a series of works I created which used vintage cookbooks as their source material. I removed most of the food and focused on creating confusing compositions out of the left over background spaces, those parts of the image which were intended to be visually neglected.
$280.00
Hand cut paper collage.
13x17x1"
This collage is from a series using home decoration books as source material. I enjoy deconstructing the perfectly placed objects, choosing interesting bits and pieces, and reconfiguring them into confusing piles and materialist totems.
$280.00
Hand cut paper collage with masking tape and spray paint.
12x16x1"
$280.00
Hand cut paper collage with image transfer.
15x13x1"
This mixed media work plays with tone, texture, shadow, and movement. I'm attracted to paper in all its' various types and incorporated a variety of different weights, qualities, and sheens into this piece. I've tried to integrate them into a visually interesting composition.
$280.00
Hand cut paper collage.
14x16x1"
Collage created from a variety of black and white portrait and nude photographs.
$280.00
Hand cut paper collage.
14x16x1"
This piece is created from found photographs. I assembled it while listening to the Kavanaugh hearings. At the time I was thinking a lot about the culture of victim shaming and the privileges afforded to white men.
$280.00
Hand cut paper collage.
11.75x13.75x1"
This collage is part of a series entitled "Corporeal Folds". It is made from black and white nude photographs to create an abstracted object. Using the body as a starting point I hope to discover new perspectives and interpretations of our physical form.