Ben Wilson (artist)

Ben Wilson (born in 1963 in Cambridge, England) is a London-based painter. The artist creates thumbnails on spit, trampled on the pavement chewing gum.

Wilson first began in 1998 with occasional painting of chewing gum paintings and from October 2004 he devoted himself entirely to this art. He created more than 10 000 of these works on footpaths in Europe, mostly in London.

Wilson heats the chewing gum with a small blowtorch, smoothes it and then wearing white paint on. He uses special acrylic colors and requires up to ten hours for a picture.

About Wilson's work reported various media, including the BBC, Yourope, This is Local London, The Observer, Raw Vision and The Daily Telegraph. About Ben Wilson and his work, two short documentaries were filmed.

In 2005, Wilson was arrested on Trafalgar Square and arrested by City of London Police on suspicion of criminal damage in 2009, and this case was closed a few months later.