Thursday, August 17, 2023

Enigmatic Scenarios Unfold in Levi van Veluw’s Complex and Confrontational Sculptures

A woman stands in the center of an art installation made from numerous compartments of identical portrait busts.

“In the depths of memory.” Photos by Michèle Margot, courtesy of Galerie Ron Mandos. All images © Levi van Veluw, shared with permission

Combining translucent polymer clay with saturated pigments or carving delicate ridges from tulipwood, Levi van Veluw constructs enigmatic, immersive narratives. The Dutch artist has been fascinated by symbols and rituals since childhood, spurred by an upbringing in a religious household. The complexity and conviction of faith and “the stark visual language of its practice made him sensitive to the visual vernacular of religious seduction,” reads a statement for the artist’s series Beyond Matter.

Memory, architecture, and storytelling manifests in Beyond Matter through the portrayal of naves or chapel-like spaces, altars, and mandalas redolent of rose windows. Geometry and repetition interact with light and shadow in meditative patterns, exploring the parallels of spiritual experience and viewing art. Van Veluw prompts questions about what and how we see and our role in completing the picture.

In another body of work, In the depths of memory, van Veluw explores portraiture and interactions between figures in a series of framed reliefs that echo movie stills or storyboard frames. And an immersive room stacked top-to-bottom with identical portraits invites viewers to stand in the center of a mysterious chamber. Mirrors on the floor and ceiling reflect the walls and one another, giving the impression of a space that is both confined and infinite. The artist leaves its interpretation open: Are you in a studio? A fever dream? Inside the artist’s mind?

 

A blue carved artwork depicting a group of people sitting around a table.

“Dinner”

Van Veluw’s uses portals, windows, and the power of the gaze to invite us into the narrative. “In between,” for example, depicts an unhappy family in a car, viewed straight-on through the windshield. In “Dinner,” an argument has been interrupted, and one subject turns around in his seat to face outward in frustration. “Stared at by piercing gazes, you are made complicit in a situation that unfolds before your eyes,” says a statement. “You are being looked at, but, in a way, you are also looking at yourself from the outside.”

An acquisition of van Veluw’s piece “Planetary Chapel” by the Stedelijk Museum Schiedam is scheduled to go on view soon, and he is currently preparing solo exhibitions for the Singer Museum in Laren, The Netherlands, and Les Filles du Calvaire in Paris. The artist is represented by Galerie Ron Mandos, and you can explore his work in much more detail on his website. He also shares updates and amazing process videos on Instagram.

 

A green carved artwork depicting a family in a car, viewed through the windshield.

“In between”

A detail of a green carved artwork depicting a family in a car, viewed through the windshield.

Detail of “In between”

An art installation made from numerous compartments of identical portrait busts.

“In the depths of memory”

A detail of an art installation made from numerous compartments of identical portrait busts.

Detail of “In the depths of memory”

A blue, circular artwork that resembles a rose window.

“Circular Compound”

A blue, geometric artwork that resembles the outline of an altarpiece.

“Beyond Matter”

A carved relief portrait in yellow.

“Distinct”

A blue carved artwork depicting a minimal, geometric cathedral nave.

“Divine”

A carved artwork in yellow depicting two figures talking.

“Conversation”

A carved portrait in black of a male figure.

“Abstruse”

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article Enigmatic Scenarios Unfold in Levi van Veluw’s Complex and Confrontational Sculptures appeared first on Colossal.



from Colossal https://ift.tt/VpzoFlc
via IFTTT

No comments:

Post a Comment

A Knotted Octopus Carved Directly into Two Pianos Entwines Maskull Lasserre’s New Musical Sculpture

“The Third Octave” (2023). All images © Maskull Lasserre, shared with permission Behind the hammers and pins of most upright pianos is a ...