Benoît van Innis Instant Light

Texts by Ann Meskens, Javier Lopez
NL/FR/EN/ES
Nº 35 / July 2020
€ 30 available

On Day 1 of the Belgian lockdown in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic Benoît van Innis made a drawing with a black felt-tip pen on an A4 sheet. He sent the drawing to some friends—most of them from the art world—by mail and WhatsApp.

On Day 2 of the lockdown, he made a second drawing and again he sent it to his friends and acquaintances. The response was overwhelmingly positive. The drawings were shared on social media and dS Weekblad published an interview and five drawings. The protagonist in these drawings is the artist himself, who reacts to the exceptional situation departing from his own universe.

The book Instant Light compiles the entire series of drawings Benoît made in his studio in Brussels. They feature all his favourite subjects: painting, Club Brugge, literature, the world of art and French chanson.

The book is published by Posture Editions in a co-production with Be-Part Kortrijk/Waregem, Hof van Busleyden Mechelen and Berg Institute Madrid.

The publication is a collection of unique drawings that constitute a personal account of this unprecedented period in our history. It’s as if these stylishly elegant and sometimes virtuoso drawings instantly brighten up this dark page; they also provide an ideal diversion from the countless bad tidings we’re confronted with every day.

Benoît van Innis (b. 1960) studied painting with Dan Van Severen at Sint-Lucas in Ghent. Shortly after graduating his drawings were published in De Morgen and De Standaard der Letteren. Since 1989, he has drawn 31 covers for The New Yorker. Benoît is widely known for the eight portraits he created for the tiled walls in the Brussels metro station Maalbeek. This beautiful work of art became the setting for a terrorist attack in 2016.

128 pages, Softcover 21 × 30 cm
ISBN 978 94 9126 236 4

Released at Museum Hof van Busleyden, 2 July 2020
and Be Part Kortrijk, 5 Sep 2020

A coproduction with Berg Institute, Madrid
and Be Part Waregem/Kortrijk

Buy online (shipping incl.)

The book is available
at the following locations:

Antwerp
Copyright (webshop)
Brugge
De Reyghere
Boekhandel Raaklijn
Brussels
Librairie Candide
WIELS
Bibliothèque Solvay
Passa Porta Bookshop
Peinture Fraîche (webshop)
Librairie Tulitu
Bozar bookshop
Ghent
Copyright (webshop)
Limerick (webshop)
S.M.A.K.
Walry
Kortrijk
Theoria
Be Part
Mechelen
De Zondvloed
Ostend
Mu.ZEE
Oudenaarde
Boekhandel Beatrijs
Waregem
Be Part
XYZ cities (EU)
Museum shops Walther König