PRESS RELEASE: About to Pop at Krause Gallery
VIDEO: Greta Thunberg Timelapse [Short Version) / Greta Thunberg Short Film
VIDEO: PRINCETON PUBLIC LIBRARY: iClapFor Public Projection
VIDEO: INSIDER ART: Creating Portraits using thousands of Lego bricks
LIVE EVENT: Enthusiastic Consent Live / Performance "The Pause", Frist Campus Center Princeton University, , February 13. 11-3 pm [PHOTOS] {FILM]
LIBRARY SHOW: Princeton Public Library: Exhibition, Talk, Kids Competition, Residency
ART TALK: Andre Veloux, Princeton Public Library, Wednesday October 11, 7 - 8:30pm [PHOTOS] [VIDEO]
VIDEO: Greta Thunberg Timelapse [Short Version) / Greta Thunberg Short Film
VIDEO: PRINCETON PUBLIC LIBRARY: iClapFor Public Projection
VIDEO: INSIDER ART: Creating Portraits using thousands of Lego bricks
LIVE EVENT: Enthusiastic Consent Live / Performance "The Pause", Frist Campus Center Princeton University, , February 13. 11-3 pm [PHOTOS] {FILM]
LIBRARY SHOW: Princeton Public Library: Exhibition, Talk, Kids Competition, Residency
ART TALK: Andre Veloux, Princeton Public Library, Wednesday October 11, 7 - 8:30pm [PHOTOS] [VIDEO]
THEMES
Objectification of Women Toxic Behaviour of Men Violence Against Women Gender Polarity Sexuality and Freedom |
PURPOSE
Engage people in conversations about themes Challenge perceptions of gender and sexuality Create incredible art Raise up women and women artists |
BIO
Andre Veloux artworks explore gender, women’s rights and consent issues using the medium of Lego bricks. Andre has a mission of taking his art to live audiences who can interact intimately with the artwork and with other members of the audience. His “Pause” live art event in collaboration with Princeton University took place in February 2019 and student campuses will remain an important target audience for Andre going forward.
Andre’s works include 2 dimensional striated and soft-palette imagery with subtle messaging, alongside 3 dimensional portrait works and series such as “Freedom Without Judgment''. The latter references pop art, depicting bold images built from pixels and leverages the 3 dimensional opportunity coming from the medium. These bold images comment on beauty, fashion choices, and societal pressures inflicted on young women. Andre also coined the term “Anti-portrait” to label a series of female figures depicted showing their backs, emphasizing their vulnerability to ‘the male gaze’.
Andre has shown at SCOPE Miami, been represented at Krause Gallery, New York, New York since 2016, and Parlor Gallery in New Jersey since being chosen by Jonathan Levine for their 2014 Juried Show. Andre created a podcast “Velouminous” to spotlight women he has personally connected with and been inspired by during his art career, in order to bring their voices to a wider audience.
His work has been featured on Insider Art, Vice, Aspire Design and Home Magazine, Quiet Lunch, Blended NYC, Curated by Girls, The Tax Collection, WideWalls, Little Things TV and many others. He was the first artist in residence at Princeton Public Library in 2018, and was also awarded a 2 week artist residency at Bethany Arts Community in Ossining, NY in 2021.
ARTIST STATEMENT
The focus of work is a feminist, gender equality and women's rights project, which explores the way women are viewed and society's expectations of them.
A series of portraits of feminist icons, show strong, powerful and self-motivated women, some of whom have reached iconic status for their work and influence, and in themselves are agents of change in society. Female icons are at the very forefront of the women’s rights movement because of all the things that these women have achieved and the circumstances in which they achieved them. Women leaders in all fields, be it political, scientific, business, artistic or humanitarian are under intense and constant scrutiny.
A second series includes portraits illustrating the mask of femininity. Created from blending features of different faces to create a single visual. These comment on the constant demands on women to continually rebuild and renew how they present themselves. The fact that these artworks are created using building blocks which you can take apart and rebuild in different ways, plays on the ceaseless demands on women to rebuild the image they present to the world in order to gain acceptance.
Included in the project are further sets of works, Freedom Without Judgement, Briefs and Panties, and Anti-Portraits. The first of which depict women's clothing and appearance, defending the right to present one's self freely, without fearing harassment or intervention from others. In the second case, a series of diptychs containing a man's briefs and a woman's panties illustrate the different form, function and ultimately expectations of men and women through the underwear they wear. The anti-portrait works showing a woman's back, comment on the sexualization of the female form, society's bearer of sexuality, as well as demonstrating vulnerability, and in particular the lack of consent in being seen or perhaps imagined in this scenario.
A number of untitled works, which go under the umbrella of a series entitled Enthusiastic Consent are direct in their meaning and interpretation, as a direct response to rape culture, no means no, and only an enthusiastic yes means yes.
All of the works are made with commercially available Lego bricks. Lego, in all its various forms, is at the same time limiting as well as limitless in its possibilities. The color palette is limited yet consistent, and the basic “pixel” size is also fixed. Yet at the same time, it is a hard, durable, tactile and lightweight material; it can be reused, replaced and altered at will, and provides a myriad of different possibilities due to the different available shaped bricks, tiles and plates, with the exciting opportunity to create the 3-dimensional and textural aspects of the art.
Andre Veloux artworks explore gender, women’s rights and consent issues using the medium of Lego bricks. Andre has a mission of taking his art to live audiences who can interact intimately with the artwork and with other members of the audience. His “Pause” live art event in collaboration with Princeton University took place in February 2019 and student campuses will remain an important target audience for Andre going forward.
Andre’s works include 2 dimensional striated and soft-palette imagery with subtle messaging, alongside 3 dimensional portrait works and series such as “Freedom Without Judgment''. The latter references pop art, depicting bold images built from pixels and leverages the 3 dimensional opportunity coming from the medium. These bold images comment on beauty, fashion choices, and societal pressures inflicted on young women. Andre also coined the term “Anti-portrait” to label a series of female figures depicted showing their backs, emphasizing their vulnerability to ‘the male gaze’.
Andre has shown at SCOPE Miami, been represented at Krause Gallery, New York, New York since 2016, and Parlor Gallery in New Jersey since being chosen by Jonathan Levine for their 2014 Juried Show. Andre created a podcast “Velouminous” to spotlight women he has personally connected with and been inspired by during his art career, in order to bring their voices to a wider audience.
His work has been featured on Insider Art, Vice, Aspire Design and Home Magazine, Quiet Lunch, Blended NYC, Curated by Girls, The Tax Collection, WideWalls, Little Things TV and many others. He was the first artist in residence at Princeton Public Library in 2018, and was also awarded a 2 week artist residency at Bethany Arts Community in Ossining, NY in 2021.
ARTIST STATEMENT
The focus of work is a feminist, gender equality and women's rights project, which explores the way women are viewed and society's expectations of them.
A series of portraits of feminist icons, show strong, powerful and self-motivated women, some of whom have reached iconic status for their work and influence, and in themselves are agents of change in society. Female icons are at the very forefront of the women’s rights movement because of all the things that these women have achieved and the circumstances in which they achieved them. Women leaders in all fields, be it political, scientific, business, artistic or humanitarian are under intense and constant scrutiny.
A second series includes portraits illustrating the mask of femininity. Created from blending features of different faces to create a single visual. These comment on the constant demands on women to continually rebuild and renew how they present themselves. The fact that these artworks are created using building blocks which you can take apart and rebuild in different ways, plays on the ceaseless demands on women to rebuild the image they present to the world in order to gain acceptance.
Included in the project are further sets of works, Freedom Without Judgement, Briefs and Panties, and Anti-Portraits. The first of which depict women's clothing and appearance, defending the right to present one's self freely, without fearing harassment or intervention from others. In the second case, a series of diptychs containing a man's briefs and a woman's panties illustrate the different form, function and ultimately expectations of men and women through the underwear they wear. The anti-portrait works showing a woman's back, comment on the sexualization of the female form, society's bearer of sexuality, as well as demonstrating vulnerability, and in particular the lack of consent in being seen or perhaps imagined in this scenario.
A number of untitled works, which go under the umbrella of a series entitled Enthusiastic Consent are direct in their meaning and interpretation, as a direct response to rape culture, no means no, and only an enthusiastic yes means yes.
All of the works are made with commercially available Lego bricks. Lego, in all its various forms, is at the same time limiting as well as limitless in its possibilities. The color palette is limited yet consistent, and the basic “pixel” size is also fixed. Yet at the same time, it is a hard, durable, tactile and lightweight material; it can be reused, replaced and altered at will, and provides a myriad of different possibilities due to the different available shaped bricks, tiles and plates, with the exciting opportunity to create the 3-dimensional and textural aspects of the art.
A note on Lego as a medium
Blurring the lines through interpretation and transformation, creating iconoclastic works.
These works deconstruct images to their essence, transforming them into hyper-realistic and captivating art in two and three dimensions using sculptural and textual elements made from coloured plastic bricks.
The use of these small, plastic bricks that we have lying around our homes immediately registers with viewers of the art. Yet the inherent changeability of these artworks, whether they be figurative art or portraits either of well-known icons or others, highlights the characteristics of the building blocks, including their plasticity, that they can be taken apart and rebuilt, and the way we create and model icons, ourselves and objects in our ever-changing society.
All of the works are made with commercially available Lego bricks. Lego, in all its various forms, is at the same time limiting as well as limitless in its possibilities. The color palette is limited yet consistent, and the basic “pixel” size is also fixed. Yet at the same time, it is a hard, durable, tactile and lightweight material; it can be reused, replaced and altered at will, and provides a myriad of different possibilities due to the different available shaped bricks, tiles and plates, with the exciting opportunity to create the 3-dimensional and textural aspects of the art.
British artist Andre Veloux, lives with his partner and their dog Sibelius in Newburyport, MA
THANK YOU TO SO MANY PEOPLE SUPPORTING ME ON THIS JOURNEY
Stephanie & Natalia, Bri Cirel,, Benjamin @ Krause Gallery, Juicy Jenn and Jill Ricci @ Parlor Gallery, Arthur Brouthers, Lauren and everyone @ Fort Works Art, Janie Hermann @ Princeton Public Library Jason Wolf @ The Brooklyn Collective, Charlotte, Hannah Blanton @ Sozo Gallery, Everyone @ Bethany Arts Community, AJ Bermudez, Seong Ae Kim, EB Martinez, Elly Weisenberg and everyone involved with Rockefeller Bros Fund at the Pocantino Center, Natasha Lewka, Maggie, Shannon and Grant @ Insider Inc, Rhinold Ponder at Art Against Racism, Tanner and Max @ The Tax Collection, Jackie Deitch-Stackhouse & Heather Mayer @ Princeton SHARE Office, Laura Luciano at Rutgers-Camden University,, Kevin Winter, Dr. G, Linda Gates & Ann Kovalick @ Johnson Park Elementary School, Edward Rzeszowski, Jon Marsh / The Beloved, Gil @ FreethinkerFilms, Adam Lucas, Mark Germond and Maria Evans @ Arts Council of Princeton, Jasmin Hernandez @ Gallery Gurls, Nicole Gordon @ Art is My Oxygen, Jessica & Suzanne @ Small World, Anders Svensson ,Ian Berry, Lisa Patterson, Lexi and Greg Emmer, Jennifer Mermans, Jennifer Lea Cohan @ SavoryPR, Ross Wishnick, Steve@FAB Bricks
Andre serves as a member on the Advisory Council of Womanspace of Mercer County NJ serving women, men and families impacted by domestic and sexual violence.
He is a member of the organising committee of Art Against Racism a non-profit whose mission is to educate and engage the public regarding the eradication of racism and the creation of an anti racist society through the arts.
ANDRE SUPPORTS THE FOLLOWING ORGANISATIONS
Womanspace
Art Against Racism
He For She
Dear Frontline
Princeton Artist Directory
Arts Council of Princeton
Meals on Wheels America
Project Cancerland
Send Hunger Packing Princeton
Blurring the lines through interpretation and transformation, creating iconoclastic works.
These works deconstruct images to their essence, transforming them into hyper-realistic and captivating art in two and three dimensions using sculptural and textual elements made from coloured plastic bricks.
The use of these small, plastic bricks that we have lying around our homes immediately registers with viewers of the art. Yet the inherent changeability of these artworks, whether they be figurative art or portraits either of well-known icons or others, highlights the characteristics of the building blocks, including their plasticity, that they can be taken apart and rebuilt, and the way we create and model icons, ourselves and objects in our ever-changing society.
All of the works are made with commercially available Lego bricks. Lego, in all its various forms, is at the same time limiting as well as limitless in its possibilities. The color palette is limited yet consistent, and the basic “pixel” size is also fixed. Yet at the same time, it is a hard, durable, tactile and lightweight material; it can be reused, replaced and altered at will, and provides a myriad of different possibilities due to the different available shaped bricks, tiles and plates, with the exciting opportunity to create the 3-dimensional and textural aspects of the art.
British artist Andre Veloux, lives with his partner and their dog Sibelius in Newburyport, MA
THANK YOU TO SO MANY PEOPLE SUPPORTING ME ON THIS JOURNEY
Stephanie & Natalia, Bri Cirel,, Benjamin @ Krause Gallery, Juicy Jenn and Jill Ricci @ Parlor Gallery, Arthur Brouthers, Lauren and everyone @ Fort Works Art, Janie Hermann @ Princeton Public Library Jason Wolf @ The Brooklyn Collective, Charlotte, Hannah Blanton @ Sozo Gallery, Everyone @ Bethany Arts Community, AJ Bermudez, Seong Ae Kim, EB Martinez, Elly Weisenberg and everyone involved with Rockefeller Bros Fund at the Pocantino Center, Natasha Lewka, Maggie, Shannon and Grant @ Insider Inc, Rhinold Ponder at Art Against Racism, Tanner and Max @ The Tax Collection, Jackie Deitch-Stackhouse & Heather Mayer @ Princeton SHARE Office, Laura Luciano at Rutgers-Camden University,, Kevin Winter, Dr. G, Linda Gates & Ann Kovalick @ Johnson Park Elementary School, Edward Rzeszowski, Jon Marsh / The Beloved, Gil @ FreethinkerFilms, Adam Lucas, Mark Germond and Maria Evans @ Arts Council of Princeton, Jasmin Hernandez @ Gallery Gurls, Nicole Gordon @ Art is My Oxygen, Jessica & Suzanne @ Small World, Anders Svensson ,Ian Berry, Lisa Patterson, Lexi and Greg Emmer, Jennifer Mermans, Jennifer Lea Cohan @ SavoryPR, Ross Wishnick, Steve@FAB Bricks
Andre serves as a member on the Advisory Council of Womanspace of Mercer County NJ serving women, men and families impacted by domestic and sexual violence.
He is a member of the organising committee of Art Against Racism a non-profit whose mission is to educate and engage the public regarding the eradication of racism and the creation of an anti racist society through the arts.
ANDRE SUPPORTS THE FOLLOWING ORGANISATIONS
Womanspace
Art Against Racism
He For She
Dear Frontline
Princeton Artist Directory
Arts Council of Princeton
Meals on Wheels America
Project Cancerland
Send Hunger Packing Princeton