Check out Benjamin Ziskind’s Artwork

Today we’d like to introduce you to Benjamin Ziskind.

Benjamin, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
I was born in Virginia, grew up in Stone Mountain, and have been based in and around Atlanta for most of my life. My mother was a traveling musician, which is probably where I got a lot of my creativity and free spirit. Growing up, I was lucky enough to see a lot of the country looking out from backstage curtains and green rooms and van windows. This contributed a lot to the way I saw the world and where I found my inspiration as a young artist. In addition to making visual art, I’ve recorded guitar and bass on multiple albums and played shows with various acts since 2002.

In 2006 I landed a tattoo apprenticeship in Little 5 Points. I would wait on the steps of the shop every day until they opened and asked if I could mop the floor. I remember they first said yes after I helped clean up a client’s vomit one day, and the rest is history. In 2007 I had my first solo exhibit at a gallery in New Orleans. I started showing my work at artist markets and group exhibitions in Atlanta while attending Georgia State University, where I earned a BA in Studio Art in 2012. In 2015 I went to New Orleans where I tattooed and made music for a couple years. I also took on a few gigs as a freelance wedding painter in North Georgia and Portland, Oregon. I would set up an easel and canvas at the beginning of the day and paint an abstracted landscape of the wedding until it was too dark to see.

I painted a mural in 2017 with several colleagues in Kefalonia, Greece where it was featured in the local media. It was a life-changing experience working alongside so many talented artists. We were able to contribute to the community by respectfully staying within the guidelines of the local culture and heritage, while still expressing our collective creativity. It really helped my process evolve and mature. Later that year I showed a body of work in a dual exhibit called “Anecdotes” at Mammal Gallery with a close friend of mine. This past August I painted an indoor mural at the Pullman, a cool bar/restaurant in the Kirkwood neighborhood. I’ve been tattooing at Clipper Ship Tattoo in East Atlanta Village since January and its a really positive place. We’re always finding ways to hone our craft, and unconventional creativity is encouraged.

We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
My art has been growing alongside me for my whole life and is no stranger to suffering or joy. It’s seen the untimely deaths of my mother and some of my closest friends, struggles with addiction, health problems, a near-death experience, high highs, and low lows. In short, it’s very human, and I celebrate its flaws. My grandmother was a Holocaust survivor, and learning her story at a young age helped shape my insight regarding our nature as humans, the bad and the good. The quality in the spirit of my work that I find healing is internalizing what may come from a painful place and transforming it into something beautiful or funny. As each painting gets further along in the process, I begin to associate it with some current event or issue. This is why some of my work will have two titles because it’s about multiple things. I may start a piece about something personal, then expand it to address something at a societal level, or vice versa.

I try not to be limited or pigeonholed, so I’ll often move and work freely between media and techniques. I see my growth as more lateral than linear, and I’d like to hope that my art can be thought of as kind of a wild card. I do my best to avoid categorization, and the fact that that’s impossible to do so makes it like a kind of game for me. At the end of the day, the ultimate goals of my work are:a) to create a strong emotional or spiritual response, and b) to inspire dialogue that can have us leaving the table with a broader perspective than what we sat down with.

How can artists connect with other artists?
I think that loneliness is more of a state of mind than a physical circumstance. That being said, these are some things that I still work on that have helped me connect with others:

Do what you’re afraid of. Find ways to be present. Travel as much as possible. Value experiences over things. Listen more than you talk. Be honest. Pay no attention to what other people think or say, and all the attention to what they do. Don’t seek acclaim or applause. Be quick to see when you’re wrong. Don’t hold grudges. Find the humor in life, and be able to laugh at yourself.

Be kind to yourself. Don’t walk over anyone, laugh at their expense, or mock their beliefs. Choose solution-oriented problem solving over pessimism. Exercise gratitude when you feel none, and empathy when you’re angry. Nothing is worth getting bent out of shape over. Be free, and want that for others. Leave places and things better than when you found them. Help when you can. If you can’t help, get out of the way. Learn to say no.

Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
The best way to see my work is on Instagram or in person. I gave up on the whole website thing because I was basically just recreating my Instagram. I tattoo at Clipper Ship Tattoo from Tuesdays through Saturdays, and my books are always open for appointments, consultations, and you can also just walk in. I create my artwork in a home studio, and I can be reached via my contact info for commissions, murals, and exhibitions. I have a mural in the Pullman restaurant on Hosea Williams that’s open to the public during operating hours. Other than that, I have a few projects in the works that I’m hoping to exhibit sometime next year.

Contact Info:

• Phone: 321-698-0782
• Email: benzytattoo@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/benzyandthejets/

Image Credit:
(for the 3 square paintings): Joelle Grace.

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