Plug!: Ben Lewis TV

Plug! You might remember the incisive and fun author-led documentaries from Ben Lewis which have appeared on BBC Four over the past few years and in particularly The Great Contemporary Art Bubble which carefully demonstrated how prices in the art market became inflated (with some emphasis on Damien Hirst) only to inevitably go in the opposite direction during the recession.

His publicist has been in touch to let me (and so us) know that Ben’s back catalogue is now available on dvd from his website benlewis.tv and that his concurrent series Art Safari will have a third series should funding be in place. Here is what the press release has to say:

BLTV is a UK based production company, headed up by award-winning documentary film-maker, author and art critic Ben Lewis and producer Fiona O’Doherty. Our documentaries which include the Grierson Award winning “The King of Communism: the pomp and pageantry Nicolae Ceausescu”; “ Blowing Up Paradise” an environmental feature uncovering 40 years of French Nuclear Testing in the South Pacific, won audiences and Awards across 4 continents; “Hammer and Tickle: the Communist Joke Book” premiered at Tribeca and won Best Documentary at the Zurich Int Film Festival 2006. Bens’ latest film “ The Great Contemporary Art Bubble” is has been broadcast throughout Europe, having won Best International Documentary at the Foyle International Film Festival it continues to blaze a trail on the International festival circuit.

Ben is probably best known for the ground breaking contemporary arts series “Art Safari”. Art Safari broke the mould of Contemporary Arts Documentary when it was first launched in 2003. Co-Produced with BBC, ZDF, Arte, TV2, YLE and NPS, The original 4 x 28" Contemporary Art series presented by self confessed Art Geek Ben Lewis was an instant hit with viewers delivering quality profile documentary with a fresh, quirky and inquisitive approach.

Series 2 followed soon after, winning the prestigious Grimme Sonderpreis Kultur 2007 and the NY Festivals, World Bronze. Art Safari series has broadcast in over 24 countries worldwide and continues to sell in primary and secondary markets. The series DVD is stocked in Museums and Galleries including The Tate Modern, The Saatchi Gallery, The Serpentine Gallery (UK) The Pompidou, The Palais de Tokyo (France) , Palais des Beau Arts (Hungary) Stedelijk Museum, Museum Boijamans Van Beuningen (Netherlands), Noderna Museet, Stockholm (Sweden) The National Gallery, Hugh Lane Gallery (Ireland) Amos Anderson Art Museum (Finland) amongst others.

Art Safari is a quality brand. We are working to push the brand out with a new 8 x 30' series, which we hope to produce later this year. The new series will launch in conjunction with Artsafari.tv, a global Arts web portal.