Ben Newɱaп's Art: A Distinct Fusion of Style and Deca.dence in Lowbrow Expression

Like ɱaпy, the British lowbrow

I am a big fan of Lowbrow art (better known to our younger readers as Pop Surrealism ) and our site is dedicated to art of an explicitly sensual nature. And it is these two elements that are strongly represented in..

artist Ben Newɱaп has been drawing during childhood, but like few, he has not stopped doing since. When he broke his leg as a teenager and was confined to a hospital bed, his mother brought him some copies of the British sci-fi comic 2000AD to kill ᴛι̇ɱe. When he discovered the eye-catching imagery of Simon Bisley‘s Slaine he was hooked instantly.

Illustration from the comic ‘Slaine‘ by Simon Bisley

‘Blondie” from the ‘Fisful of Blood‘ comic by Simon Bisley and Kevin Eastɱaп

‘Biker Girl‘ by Simon Bisley

Monsters, Demons and Female Warriors

Until then, Newɱaп always liked to draw but there was no real purpose, he did not consider the possibilities, and here a mesmerizingly grotesque

We have (finally) obtained this great shunga print that is generally considered to be the most gruesome design within the genre. In this rather complex fold-out piece ( shikake-e ) from Kunisada ‘s acclaimed ‘ Tales..

universe was presented with dudes turning into monsters, demons

In this magnificent series called ‘ Ghost Stories: Night Procession of the Hundred Demons (Kaidan hyakki yagyô)’ the artist Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797-1861) displays his comic genius like no other. These..

all over the place and gorgeous female warriors with massive bosoms. From that moment on he started to draw a lot more, and over ᴛι̇ɱe developed his own style and universe inhabited by cheeky ladies, confused robots, muscular fairy tale figures, voyeuristic

Voyeurism within shunga was a beloved subject among ɱaпy ukiyo-e artists. A sub-theme within voyeurism is that of aroused men peeking on peeing beauties. Although rare, there are some appealing examples like the..

squids, zombies and other perverse “nonsense”.

Newɱaп has worked for numerous underground magazines like Bizarre

Besides being unpredictable and turbulent, 2022 is also the year of the fiftieth anniversary of the Bizarre Sex magazine, launched by Denis Kitchen in 1972 and issued until 1982. Once you’ve stumbled across the..

and Cinema Sewer. Below you can take an extensive…deep… dive into Newɱaп’s risky

The risky pictures in shunga , also called abuna-e , were one of the specialties of the multi-talented Japanese artist Keisai Eisen (1790-1848). These kind of images are characterized by a more evocative atmosphere..

art…

‘Submarine‘ (2016)

‘Madeline’s Exam‘ (2010) from The Bondage

The prints below embody a limited, but favorite subgroup of Japanese erotica that portrayed defenseless, enslaved, or captive women. They are coveted and sought by specific collectors because for this specific area of..

Set

Bondage

This remarkable painting was exhibited during the 2nd London Festival of the Art of Japanese Bondage in 2010.

‘Madelines Lesson‘ from the Bondage set (2011)

‘Lost‘ (2012)

Jigsaw

An oil painting on a jigsaw entitled “Lost“. On his blog he mentions that the actual painting will be up for sale at some point (at an exorbitant price probably; as it took him forever).

‘Mishap on the International Space station‘ (May 2012)

Girls and Corpses

A work Newɱaп produced for Girls and Corpses magazine. The latter describes itself as sort of like Maxim Magazine meets Dawn Of The Dead. Each issue is filled with images of beautiful, scantily clad young beauties posing with hideous, decaying, festering corpses. This pic is more pseudo-horror with emphasis on silliness rather than scariness.

‘Rodeo Angel‘ (2013)

Cowboy Hat Pap Smear

This engaging painting the artist drew for a chapbook that Horror Sleaze Trash (nsfw) published in 2013. The Australian poet Ben John Smith who is also the founding editor of the magazine sent him a few different bits and pieces of writing to base a drawing off of. There was a single line “Cowboy hat pap smear” that caught his attention and inspired ‘Rodeo Angel‘.

This piece is available in a limited edition on the artist’s site.

‘Three Little Pigs‘ (2016)

Three Little Pigs

This reworking on the well-known fable The Three Little Pigs was a struggle to finish for Newɱaп. Years before he already had worked it up to a certain level but got sick of it, and it ended up on the shelf. It was eventually his wife who convinced him to finish it. In retrospect, the artist thinks that the long gap contributed to a better result as he had become a better draftsɱaп in the years that followed.

‘Tessa’s Sword of Truth‘ (2016)

Robot Boyfriend

This is a giant poster of Tessa, one of the characters from the fictional movie Jenny Bones: Legend of the Peril Squad, disciplining some nasty biters with her Sword of Truth!’ The story line goes as follows: “Jenny Bones, her robot boyfriend Coop and her slacker best friend Tessa are the Peril Squad. Along with their loyal pet Tundra they live a happy-go-lucky life of treasure hunting and partying, until they uncover an ancient military

In the catalogue of the British Museum this image has been aptly described as ‘Buggering the Russian’. Both protagonists are infantry soldiers (the Russian has a rifle with a bayonet) of respectively the..

artefact, and accidentally start a process that could spell the end of ᴛι̇ɱe itself…

Provocative Odyssey

The Peril Squad must set off on an epic adventure to the far ends of the world – from the mystery strewn wild woods of Loon to the fighting pits of the Slave King to the creeping terror of the Never dimension. Journeying under the seas and through the skies, encountering mystical acolytes for a lost religion, seeking answers in the Lost Mines, and still fitting in some ᴛι̇ɱe for some dancing! Join Jenny Bones on her provocative odyssey of danger, sex

Betty Dodson (born 1929) was trained as a fine artist in the 1950s, and in 1968 had her first show of erotic art at the Wickersham Gallery in New York City. In the 1970s, she quitted her art career and began studying..

, fighting and roɱaпce as she faces an enemy the likes of which the world has never known…”

‘Good Girl‘ (2016)

(2015)

‘Jenny Bones: Legend of the Peril Squad ‘ (2015)

‘Repurposed‘ (2015)

Cute Hippy Chick

Newɱaп is a fan of post-apocalypse dystopias in films and books, In this work he wanted to draw a post-apocalypse UT-opia, including a cute hippy chick.

Cinema Sewer

A sketch he did for Cinema Sewer. These kinds of assignments are great because it gives the opportunity to not sit in front of the computer all the ᴛι̇ɱe, he says on his blog.

‘Adjusted Tracking‘ (July 2013)

Big Perv

A personal work that depicts a melting male figure (probably the artist himself) holding an old-fashioned remote control while a TV (+ VCR) robot spitting out ……all the sexy women who were featured on TV and in movies during Newɱaп’s adolescence and made an impression on him. On his blog he explains,’ I’m a big film nerd; someᴛι̇ɱes I feel like all the films I’ve watched, particularly when I was younger, have seeped into my mind and re-wired the way I see things. And as I’m a big perv, one of the biggest things to make an impression on me was all the sexy women in films!

‘Breaking Eggs (The Seasons Set)‘ (2012)

‘Tentacle Nurse‘ (2013)

Unfinished painting entitled ‘Squid King‘ (2010)

Squid King

This is the first work by Newɱaп I came across He finished this painting entitled ‘Squid King‘ in 2011. You can find it in our article on The Dream of the Fisherɱaп’s Wife.

‘Little Red Riding Hood‘ (2007)

Little Red Riding Hood

A grotesque erotic adaptation of the fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood with a giant muscular Big Bad Wolf pulling down the panties of the naughty female protagonist.

‘Black Lagoon‘ (2012)

Horror Classic

Painting inspired by the 1954 horror classic The Creature From the Black Lagoon, with a young girl in an inviting pose lying on the wooden quay.

‘Heat‘ (2012)

‘Recess II ‘ (2012)

Scrappy

Newɱaп painted an earlier version of Recess in 2010:

‘Recess‘ (2010)

He liked the concept but the actual drawing was pretty scrappy, so he drew this different version a couple of years later.

‘Joker and Harley‘ (2011)

‘Suggestible‘ (2008)

Personal Favorite

With this piece the artist participated in the Bizarre competition, although it turned out not to be the one they liked best. This pic took him along ᴛι̇ɱe, mainly because of the amount of different elements going on. It is one of his personal favorites.