Freddie Mercury, 2025

Ben Riley  

Born in 1981, Ben
Riley is an accomplished British artist based in Staffordshire. Music played a
significant role in his journey to becoming a professional artist. Unlike their
digital counterparts, the vinyl records utilized in Riley's practice are a nature
of their own. Appealing to the eye, the ear, and the touch, his completely
vinyl portraits, broken down to fragments and dust, allow viewers to feel and
visualize the vitality of pressed music which is so quickly being lost in the
digital age.

“I feel as an artist it is my
duty to connect the viewer with th eicon, to feel the mind, body, and soul –
allowing the music to make the icon, rather than the icon making the music."

Previously, vinyl
records had one of two destinies: the charity shop box in the corner of the
room, or the rubbish pile. Riley's art is warm, rugged, and elegantly simple
like the vinyl he repurposes to create portraits imbued with the history and
liveliness of music. Icons of music are recreated literally from the music form
that made them. Each piece of vinyl is emotionally charged, some reflective,
dazzling in different angles and lights, some reserved and soft. Because of
this, each portrait gives many different impressions to the eye, enrapturing a
nostalgic moment in time. According to Riley, vinyl is the only medium which
allows his portraits to sing.

Since 2002, Riley has been
able to deliver his art professionally to an international audience focusing on
iconic and stimulating portraiture worldwide; gaining notoriety in the capture
of mood, soul, and character of a subject. With an accolade of celebrity and
professional collectors, Riley's works have been featured in media, television,
and press worldwide.