'Malpertuis' (2018).
Ibrahim R. Ineke is a The Hague painter, writer and comic book artist, as well as the co-founder and co-curator of the artist-run nomadic art initiative Baracca (since 2005). An experimental explorer of the comic medium, Ineke's work is released in both DIY zines and gothic-inspired graphic novels published by Sherpa.
Early life and education
Ibrahim R. Ineke was born in 1976 in the city of The Hague. His father is the jazz drummer and Conservatory of Music professor Eric Ineke. Between 1998 and 2000, he studied Painting at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in The Hague, and then from 2000 to 2002 attended the Faculty of Art and Design of the Utrecht School of the Arts.
Visual arts
Since the 1990s, Ibrahim Ineke has been active in several art forms, including print media, murals, installations, public space art and street art. As a visual artist, he experiments with narrative techniques and creating a user experience built on mystery, atmosphere and spatial perception. Major inspirations are the tropes and grammar of horror fiction, particularly the 19th-century Penny Dreadful story papers. Ineke's free work balances in the grey area between comics and fine art, and has been described as the "visual version of noise and drone music".
'Child's Play' (Pulp de Luxe, 2018).
Comics and zines
For many years, Ineke released his print work through self-published zines, for instance the 'BlackBook' subscription series (2013-2014) or his 2018 zine illustrated assorted prose pieces by curator and artist Amelia LiCavoli. One of his main tools is the photocopier, which is not only used for printing, but also as a drawing devise. Other works are published digitally. Ineke has had stories published in the online Pulp de Luxe magazine, serialized on his own website (the mystical 'Half Blood') and self-released in the digital epub format, for instance his 2019 collaboration with US writer/artist/colorist Sloane Leong, 'Twice Fated, Thrice Tried'.
Sherpa releases
While remaining a dedicated zine-maker, several of Ibrahim Ineke's works - both comics and art books - have seen official English-language releases through the Dutch publishing house Sherpa. His debut with the publisher was the 2015 graphic novel 'The White People', based on the eponymous gothic novella by Welsh author and mystic Arthur Machen. Inspired by classic TV serials such as 'Children of the Stones' and 'The Owl Service', Ineke's next graphic novel, 'Eloise' (Sherpa, 2017), explored the borderlands between the inner and outer landscape, between myth and reality, youth and burgeoning adulthood. Both books were released to international acclaim. In 2018, Ibrahim Ineke's official adaptation of Jean Ray's magical realistic horror story 'Malpertuis' was released by Sherpa, which had a follow-up in the 2022 limited edition release 'Zoë'. 2018 also saw the publication of 'Dune Hag' (Sherpa, 2018), about occult The Hague. In November 2022, Sherpa released a collection of short comix by Ibrahim R. Ineke under the title 'Keep Your Gold', followed in 2023 by Ineke's adaptation of the 1896 Louis Couperus novel 'Hooge Troeven'.
'The White People' (2015).
Baracca
Besides his personal work, Ineke has been involved in collective art projects too. Since 2005, he works with "situation artist" Yvo van der Vat on the alternative art initiative Baracca, setting up brief art exhibitions (sometimes only for one evening), doing assignments and organizing concerts with experimental bands. Both act as working artists and curators, with Ineke using his expertise from comix-inspired art and Van der Vat his knowledge of installation, performance, sculptural and video art. Keywords in their approach are directness, improvisation and rawness, which helps them achieve (in their own words) "Baracca's curatorial intentions" that "seek to confront apparent contraries, to bridge the gap between audiences and artists of different backgrounds."
Since 2015, Ibrahim Ineke also collaborates with painter/musician Anthony Blokdijk on the Maldoracca book store in The Hague, through which they sell and release art books and zines.
Graphic contributions
Original pages and archival material by Ineke were included in the 2016 overview of Dutch Underground Comics in De Vishal, Haarlem. His work was also featured in the exhibition catalogue of 'Waking The Witch' (Legion Projects, 2019). In 2020, he contributed a story to the collective book 'De Man Die Geen Saxofoon Mocht Spelen' (Personalia, 2020), a comic adaptation of a short story by novelist Lilian Blom. The other contributors were Aimée de Jongh, Marloes de Vries, Juliette de Wit and the veteran illustrator Thé Tjong-Khing.
Ibrahim R. Ineke has additionally drawn record sleeves for the band Peal and legendary noise musician Muslimgauze. Visual essays by Ineke have appeared in venues as diverse as the Solrad online comics magazine and Faunus, the journal of the Arthur Machen Society. Short prose stories by Ibrahim Ineke have appeared in the British magazine Wormwood (Tartarus Press), and he has written essays for the website The Hooded Utilitarian.
'Eloise' (2017).