Malbec artist Benoit Van Innes passed away after a long illness

Van Innes moved from Bruges to Brussels in the mid-1990s. At that time, his drawings and caricatures occupied pages among others the morning, Standard, talent And Free Netherlands It has already been achieved. Drawings followed later Paris match And the covers of the famous magazine The New Yorker. Thus Van Innes achieved the Belgian first. In total, his drawings appeared 35 times in the American magazine.

Malbec

Brussels is a common thread in Van Innes' life. This West Flemish native worked on his absurd and funny drawings with well-known figures in his studio or at his home address in Schaerbeek, Molenbeek, Anderlecht, and later also in the city of Brussels, but over the years he became increasingly associated with the Maelbeek metro station.

In the late 1990s, Van Ennis began to focus more and more on drawing. Olive trees – ready for picking – and ladders were recurring motifs in the distinctive interplay of lines and shapes. In Malbec in 1999, he was allowed to decorate a wall with colorful mosaic tiles on which anonymous heads were decorated.

After the attacks, he returned to the metro station to set up the memorial. Once again, the olive tree formed the cornerstone of his work. The now typical print “Maalbeek/Maelbeek” applied in black paint on the station's white wall tiles is also his work.