Arkley Introduces

A man with x-ray vision, Nick Veasey creates art that shows what it is really like inside. Nick’s work with radiographic imaging equipment takes the x-ray to another level. Everyday objects are transformed from the banal to the beguiling and the layers and make-up of natural items are shown in fantastic detail. These works are a classic example of the fusion between art and science. The results transcend classification as photographs, having the gravitas to motivate science institutions and art galleries to acquire the artworks. The Victoria and Albert Museum in London have recently added his work to the British National Collection of Photography. Nick regularly exhibits at fine art galleries the world over. The ethereal and fascinating works have collected a host of International awards. In today’s world that is obsessed with ‘image’, superficiality and artifice, Veasey counters such insubstantial diversions by delving inside and discovering what things are really made of. Metaphors for the images are many and varied. Their context is very relevant in today’s society with the prevalence of surveillance and the use of x-ray technology for security. The artist’s work can be seen as a project that harnesses and exploits modern technology to advance the boundaries of perception and of art. But what sets him apart from other artists is not only the technique. Instead of creating or transforming things, he is exposing something that always existed, objects we think we know but we don’t. Not from the inside out. Creating art with radiation is complex and dangerous but the results continually inspire Nick to keep experimenting. The subjects of his attention are manifold. Flora and fauna, DJ Decks, ordinary objects such as shoes, a typewriter and even a classic Morris Mini. Mainly, whatever surrounds us and is tangible. Although working with the manifest, he achieves to uncover the invisible. Veasey’s x-rays penetrate the surface and take us on a journey into a world otherwise hidden and unseen. The inner life of objects and organisms is revealed, the surface replaced with transparency, the inside becomes the outside – what is left is the form the aesthetics of form the inner beauty. The work is a dazzling balance of extremes, using lethal radiation to produce results of great lyricism and grace. Veasey’s x-rays penetrate solid matter to render it ghostly and gentle, giving the viewers that precious feeling that they have somehow seen reality afresh with an aspect to life that they have never before experienced. An artist that pushes boundaries in pursuit of his calling.

Jean-Luc’s highly textured oil paintings have a tangible, sculptural quality. Embracing the transformations that occur when not enslaved to the subject matter, he becomes obsessed with the materiality and texture of the paint itself. A tension forms within the thick surfaces as paint takes precedence over representation, and a deeper psychological and emotional presence is unearthed. He meticulously constructs a portrait using multiple layers of oil before masking, erasing, and blurring features through bold impasto marks, scratching, and peeling. Traces of its history are exposed – an apparition or fading memory of what’s beneath. Jean-Luc’s Dark Head paintings play with light and darkness. Ambiguous subjects emerge from – or disappear into – the shadows, hints of concealed features are illuminated, and the viewer is enticed to search deeper.

Jean-Luc’s influences include Victorian photography, death masks, and black and white film: historic sources presenting timeless or haunting qualities. These pixelated references lend themselves to reinvention of their lost colours and textures, reimagined in his paintings as ephemeral moments of beautiful chaos. Polarities coexist in tension – forming and breaking; creation and destruction; representation and abstraction – as the subjects teeter on the brink of disappearance, reflecting human experience itself: fractured, disjointed, and deeply layered

Arkley Introduces: An exhibition dedicated to introducing the newest & freshest talent! Saturday 1st April between 1pm - 3pm

Arkley Introduces

Saturday 1st April 2023 - 1pm - 3pm @ Arkley Fine Art

Register Your Interest

NICK VEASEY

OLLY HOWE

JEAN-LUC ALMOND

KEV MUNDAY

ZOE SCUTTS

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