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On completion of his apprenticeship and aged just 22 Benjamin started his own business “Murals by Ben”. He painted murals in homes, for local businesses, and for local bike and car enthusiasts, at the same time selling his smaller airbrush and oil artworks at the local weekend markets. His biggest artwork was a mural some 80 meters long by 15 meters high.
With a deep desire to grow both professionally and artistically Benjamin, after 2 years of night school, graduated as an engineering draftsman in 1987. This career change was a key milestone in Benjamin’s life as the union of “Ben with Ink Pen” had a dramatic effect on his artistic perspective. He became mesmerized with the dramatic black and white imagery he could create using ink. During the day he produced extremely detailed and complex aeronautical and mechanical drawings and by night he drew and sketched in ink, inspired by the great works of the famous Australian Artist Norman Lindsay. During the late 80’s and early 90’s Benjamin produced and sold hundreds of artworks and would move from Sydney to Melbourne and finally to Canberra. His passion and artistic creativity started to gain momentum with support from work colleagues, friends and international visitors from the U.S.A and U.K.
In 2002 Benjamin and his family arrived in New Delhi, India. Over the next 3 years Benjamin traveled and experienced the cultures of Asia, sub- Continent and the Middle East. The cultures, art, artists, and colours that Benjamin was exposed to during his travels, dramatically influenced his art. It saw him advance from his beloved monochrome to colour and from realism to modernism and even explored the world of abstract. In September 2005 Benjamin had his first international solo exhibition New Delhi, with an exhibition titled “India –Journey into Colour”. As a direct result of the outstanding success of this exhibition Benjamin was sponsored by the Australian Trade Commission (AusTrade) to exhibit at India’s largest Art and Design show. This was followed by another solo exhibition, which led to an invitation to be the guest foreign artist at the “eternal recurrence” exhibition joining some of India’s foremost modern/contemporary artist.
In 2006 Benjamin returned to Australia and wasted no time in re-establishing himself back in to the arts community of Canberra. At the end of 2006 Benjamin joined the artist collective know as M16 Art space in Canberra and opened his own studio/gallery. Benjamin had several joint exhibitions at M16 in 2006/2007, and his first solo exhibition “Mystery of Trees” & “Running Down Dreams” in the famous Promenade café at historic Hyatt Hotel in Canberra late 2007. In February 2008 Benjamin moved to the Riyadh in The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
In the very brief time Benjamin has been in Riyadh he has meet with many artist. A chance meeting with two of Saudi Arabia’s most prominent Artists Ali Ruzaiza and Mohammad Farea inspired Benjamin to seek out opportunities to exhibit his unique Australian Art in the Kingdom. As fate would have it Benjamin had the opportunity to have his first solo exhibition “Mystery of Trees “at the Hotel Al-Khozama in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Benjamin had his second solo exhibition in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia “Coffee & Art” in December. The artworks were created using coffee on paper and canvas and were inspired by the colours and landscape of Saudi Arabia. Benjamin's second in the series of his Coffee & Tea art was the exhibition a "Patch of Blue" which was held in April 2009 at the Al-Khozama Hotel. Again Benjamin used Coffee and Tea as his medium (on Canvas) and added a touch of Blue using pastels to each work.
In November 2009 Benjamin was invited by the Four Season Hotel Riyadh to exhibit his newest exhibition "Bronze and Blue. This exhibition was a dramatic shift in all aspects from Benjamin's last exhibition. "Bronze and Blue" was bold and mystical as it tried to capture the spirit of the Arabian deserts at night. Benjamin's use of two primary colours Bronze and Blue formed the basis of each piece which was built upon with touches of bright vibrant colour from a variety of mediums. The exhibition was very successful with the majority of works now sold. E-mail: benjamin.van.eldik@hotmail.com Website:www.benzart.biz Mobile:0505401872