Pure Luck

artists first solo show in Berlin runs April 7th – May 5th

In Fall 2011, Frey stumbled upon a book about criminal
tattoos done in Russian prisons recently published by FUEL.
The tattoos were from different periods, some of prisoners
of war during WWII, but many were of murderers, thieves,
and even just people suspected of being a threat to Russia’s
mafia and political elite. Frey drove to create a series using
stories from the tattoo illustrations that could also be
depicted in The Rolling Stone’s song, Sympathy For The
Devil(Sympathy was inspired by Mikhail Bulgakov’s The
Master and Margarita; a novel written about the devil’s visit
to the Soviet Union). Some images use themes of
repression(as they were designed for prisoners) but there
were many tattoos done with irony; invoking a sentiment of
prosperity. Frey drew mostly from this and will present
these drawings in his first exhibition in Berlin, PURE LUCK at
Okazi Gallery in April 2012.

Ben Frey is an illustrator and fine artist located in-between
the mountains and ocean in Vancouver, Canada. He
graduated from Capilano University’s Design and Illustration
program in 2007, and has spent the past few years
freelancing in Vancouver and in Berlin. Ben is notably an art
contributor to Lifetime, Sitka Surfboards, Westbeach,
Momentum Wheel Co as well as a children’s book illustrator
for Alanna Books UK, Annick Press, and Simply Read Books.
His biggest source of inspiration is the west coast, old
illustrated biology textbooks of plants and animals, and
India.