Benjamin Queair Jones (born 1977)[1] is an American artist, animator, filmmaker, and voice actor. He was a co-founder and member of the art collective Paper Rad from 2001 to 2008, as well as his own studio Ben Jones Studio, Inc. in 2008. He has worked on various animated television programs and web series for Animation Domination High-Def (ADHD). Since 2017, Jones is the creative director of Bento Box Entertainment.[2] He lives and works in Los Angeles, California.[2]
Ben Q. Jones | |
|---|---|
| Born | Benjamin Queair Jones 1977 (age 46–47) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Massachusetts College of Art and Design |
| Occupation(s) | artist, animator, filmmaker, voice actor |
| Years active | 1999–present |
| Notable work | The Problem Solverz Stone Quackers Saturday Morning All Star Hits! |
Biography
editJones was born in 1977 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and grew up in central Massachusetts. His family collected computers, a hobby initiated by his father, Frank, who was a software engineer. This influenced Jones a lot, so much that later he would draw inspiration for his future style of art and design.[clarification needed]
Jones attended Massachusetts College of Art and Design, and graduated in 1999 with a B.F.A. in Studio of Interrelated Media (SIM).[3][4]
Career
editWhile studying in Boston at Massachusetts College of Art and design, he began working in an art collaboration with classmate Christopher Forgues (C.F.) under the name "Paper Radio".[1][5] Art in America magazine named Jones one of the, "most important cartoonists of their generation" for his work with Paper Radio.[6] In 2000, he founded the East Coast art collective Paper Rad, with the artists Jacob and Jessica Ciocci.[1] Paper Rad is best known for creating comics, zines, video art, net art, MIDI files, paintings, installations, and music with a distinct "lo-fi" aesthetic.
Ben Jones collaborated with PFFR and Williams Street on a 2007 pilot for Adult Swim titled Neon Knome.[7] It was passed by the network and went on to become rebranded as a Cartoon Network show called The Problem Solverz.[7] Jones is the main creator and the voice actor of Alfe and Roba in the Cartoon Network show, The Problem Solverz.[8]
In 2013, Jones became the creative director of the Fox Saturday night programming block ADHD,[9] where he released his series, Stone Quackers. The program aired as sneak peek on October 27, 2014, on FXX[10] and a spin-off, Gothball, was premiered as a web-series on May 1, 2015, on the ADHD YouTube channel.[11]
Jone's work in fine art painting includes psychedelic themed painting, described as brightly colored, often visually flat or with pattern.[3]
Filmography
edit| Project | Show run | Channel(s) | Credited role | No. of episodes | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pick a Winner | 2004 | DVD only | Director (credited as Paper Rad) | 5 episodes | [12] |
| I Dream of Zinedine Zidane | 2005 | Short only | Digital effect artist | Inexistent | |
| Super Mario Movie | Director (credited as Paper Rad) | ||||
| Wonder Showzen | 2005–2006 | MTV2 | Animator | Unavailable | |
| Trash Talking | 2006 | DVD only | Co-creator, Writer, Producer, Executive producer, Director, and Voice actor (credited as Paper Rad) | ||
| Yo Gabba Gabba! | 2007 | Nick Jr. Nickelodeon |
Jingle animator | 1 episode | |
| Neon Knome | 2008 | Adult Swim | Creator, Animator, Writer, Executive producer, Director, Music composer, and Voice actor | ||
| The Problem Solverz | 2011–2013 | Cartoon Network | Creator, Executive producer, Director, Music composer, and Voice actor | 26 episodes | |
| Storyboard artist | 2 episodes | ||||
| ADHD Shorts | 2012–2016 | Fox, FXX | Storyboard director | 10 shorts | |
| Voice actor | 4 shorts | ||||
| Designer | 3 shorts | ||||
| Writer | 2 shorts | ||||
| Peanut Butter & Jelly | 2013 | Short only | Voice actor | Inexistent | |
| Axe Cop | 2013–2015 | Fox, FXX | Creative director | 22 episodes | |
| Wander Over Yonder | 2013 | Disney XD | Voice actor | 1 Episode | |
| High School USA! | 2013 | Fox | Creative director | 12 episodes | |
| Golan the Insatiable | 2013–2015 | Fox, FXX | |||
| Lucas Bros. Moving Co. | 2013–2015 | Creative director, and director | 17 episodes | ||
| Storyboard director | 2 episodes | ||||
| Voice actor | 1 episode | ||||
| Stone Quackers | 2014–2015 | FXX | Creator, Writer, Executive producer, Creative director, and Voice actor | 12 episodes | |
| Storyboard director | 2 episodes | ||||
| Major Lazer | 2014–2015 | Creative director | 11 episodes | ||
| The Adventures of OG Sherlock Kush |
2015–2016 | ADHD (Web only) | Director | 20 episodes | |
| Gothball | 2015 | Creator, Writer, Director, and Voice actor | 10 episodes | ||
| Nerdland | 2016 | Film only | Sequence animator | ||
| OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes | 2017–2019 | Cartoon Network | Voice actor | 14 episodes | |
| Neo Yokio | 2017 | Netflix | Creative director, and Voice actor | 6 episodes | |
| Art Thiefs | TBS | Creator, and director | 1 episode | [13] | |
| Saturday Morning All Star Hits! | 2021 | Netflix | Co-creator, voice actor, writer, director of animation, Creative director | 8 episodes | |
| Koala Man | 2023 | Hulu | Executive producer | 8 episodes |
Music videos
edit- Coldplay – "A L I E N S" (with Diane Martel)
- LSD – "Genius"
References
edit- ^ a b c Nadel, Dan (April 4, 2011). "Artistic Modern Funnies: Ben Jones' Problem Solverz". Tcj.com (April 4, 2011).
- ^ a b Holloway, Daniel (April 18, 2017). "Ben Jones Named Bento Box Entertainment Creative Director". Variety. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
- ^ a b "Jump into the world of Ben Jones' post-internet, psychedelic paintings". It's Nice That. September 21, 2017. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
- ^ "Lines of Thought: An Interview with Ben Jones". MassArt. November 7, 2016. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
- ^ Chiaverina, John (September 16, 2015). "Paul's Pile Of Papers: Paul Bright On His Paper Rad Collection And Forthcoming Book". ARTnews. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
- ^ Nadel, Dan (April 28, 2016). "Punk and Hippie". Art in America. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
- ^ a b "Unleashing the Pizza-Loving Beast". Animation Magazine. March 25, 2011. Retrieved October 30, 2017.
- ^ "In Brief". The Fresno Bee. March 30, 2011.
- ^ Animation Domination High-Def ('ADHD'). WonderCon Anaheim 2013. (March 30, 2013).
- ^ Nadel, Dan (October 24, 2014). "Inhale Exhale". Comics Journal. Fantagraphics Books. Archived from the original on October 25, 2014. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
- ^ GOTHBALL TRAILER - Youtube
- ^ Pick A Winner (2004), retrieved April 18, 2019
- ^ "Art Thiefs – Hamilton Phillips Casting". Archived from the original on October 5, 2019. Retrieved October 5, 2019.
Further reading
edit- O'Leary, Shannon. (May 15, 2012) How Cartoon Network Became a Haven for Some of the Best Independent Comic Book Creators Working Today. Publishers Weekly.