A brief overview on how the launch issue of AfterDark zine ended up with the prolific Liverpool based artist Ben Youdan’s ‘Pink Defiance’ on it’s cover. We look at Ben’s artistic credentials and reveal how this powerful imagery was utilised in the promotional campaign. We also share a very special art work we commissioned Ben to create for the Editor’s Letter..
Front cover – ‘Pink Defiance’ by Ben Youdan.
Ben Youdan is a professional LGBTQIA+ artist based in Liverpool, United Kingdom. Ben’s work employs a wide variety of techniques and processes including collage, to create art that deals with sexuality, identity and gender, in the context of the contemporary urban landscape.
Recently he exhibited at the “Leather Endures” exhibition in Sydney, Australia, the St. Margaret’s gallery in Norwich (part of Queerfest), and participated in a group exhibition in the Long Hall, Plummer Park in Los Angeles. Ben also recently launched his new book, Unsafe Space, third in the series, at the Bishopsgate Institute in London, followed by a brand new solo exhibition in Blackpool.
In the past he has exhibited extensively in group shows in Berlin, London, and Amsterdam, He has also had work featured in the Liverpool biennial, and the Homotopia arts festival. His illustrious back catalogue also include a portrait of Holly Johnson commissioned for a major exhibition at the Museum of Liverpool, two solo exhibitions curated by Duovision, and he exhibited a work as an intervention at the Williamson Gallery.
Some of his work has been acquired for the permanent collection of the museum of Liverpool, and many can be found in private collections around the world. Ben was formally an artist in residence at The Tom of Finland foundation in Los Angeles, and his work was featured as part of Madonna’s Rebel Heart world tour.
Ig: @benyoudanart
Masthead creative design for the Editor’s Letter page by Ben Youdan, and commissioned by the AfterDark zine.