I met multi-disciplinary artist Levi van Veluw, with his “The Origin of the Beginning” exhibition in 2011 at Ronmandos Gallery. He showcased works from a series of installations, photographs and videos in which he drew from his own childhoodmemories to thematically and narratively develop his own brand ofself-portraiture. The artist had created 3 “rooms” covered withmore than 30.000 wooden blocks, balls and slats respectively (without any digital manipulation). Each “room” was executed as a life-size installation (4m x 2.5m x 2.5m). I still remember this amazing works. You can see images of these works on his personal website: http://www.levivanveluw.nl/work/origin-beginning-0. The work of Levi Veluw has been exhibited internationally in leading museums and institutions, and is included in both public and private collections, including the Borisan Collection, the Caldic Collection, the Ekard Collection and Kpmg.
Levi van Veluw’s Upcoming Exhibitions
2014 “Kunst Vereniging Diepenheim” March 30th until June 1th.
Show: Installation and drawings
2014 La Galerie Particulière will present 5 new drawings at “Art Paris” and “Drawing
now Paris” 26 March 2014 – 30 March 2014.
2014 Exhibition Villa Mondriaan with films and drawings. May 16th 2014.
2014 La Galerie Particulière, Paris, France (Solo)
2014 Loop Fair Barcelona, Spain (Solo), 3 new films will be presented by Galerie Ron Mandos at Loop Barcelona. 5, 6, 7 June 2014. At the same time we will present Levi van Veluw’s new website designed by Julius van der Vaart.
2015 Marres House of Contemporary Art, the Netherlands (Solo)
2015 Rosenfeld Porcini Gallery, London, United Kingdom
New videos of Levi van Veluw Presented by Galerie Ron Mandos at Loop Barcelona 2014
The series “The Collapse of Cohesion” consists of films, drawings, installations and photographs. Whereas the previous series incorporated themes of control, order and structure, in these works we witness the disintegration of these elements. Order turns into chaos. Visions of collapsing desks, falling cupboards and exploding cabinets mark the moment of disruption. Human structures are affected by forces of nature such as gravity, water and wind and in this way realigned into a new, natural order of things. Although these works play on our fascination for destruction and need for disorder, they do possess an inherent compositional equilibrium. The physics of falling objects has a logic that is bound by rules. Every image has been carefully composed by Van Veluw in preliminary drawing studies. The placement of each element was not left to coincidence but was a preconceived choice of the artist. The role of every discipline and their sequential order in the series has particular meaning. Every idea originates in drawings, which are subsequently translated into three-dimensional reality through installations, photographs and films. This particular sequence is important: the drawing, which acts as the original artistic impetus, corresponds to the freest phase of expression in the elaboration of the concept. In drawing, reality is created out of nothing; traces of carbon or charcoal on a carrier form the base from which everything is constructed. In contrast, other disciplines replicate reality by means of its very building blocks; reality is as it were construed, staged, manipulated. The newest instalment in “The Collapse of Cohesion” is a series of short films, based on drawings. One of the drawings presents an image of an archive room, filled with large structures of cabinets containing more than 1500 neatly arranged icosahedrons. The whole arrangement is held in place by the very structure of the cabinets and the force of gravity, in a fundamental and continuous on-going struggle between the desire for order and the forces of nature. An unknown cause upsets this equilibrium and the cabinets are made to topple over. The symmetrical forms are no longer held in place, gravity takes over, order is turned into chaos. In the film, the drawing has been replicated life-size in wood. All the visible surfaces are covered in carbon powder, and the setting acquires shape only through the reflection of the light. Reality becomes tangible only through the experience of lighter or darker hues, as in a drawing. The falling apart of the structure is filmed at over 1000 frames per second. After months of meticulous preparation, this is the only, and crucial, moment over which the artist has no control. In contrast to the drawing in which the moment of chaos remains an interpretation by the artist – and is therefore inexorably linked to him – the film makes it possible to relinquish all and every form of control. Unpredictability becomes a new factor in this work. The time of the event is stretched; the moment measured in seconds becomes a minute-long occurrence and forms a new reality. Time, because of this massive slowing, seems to no longer affect the process of disruption. The icosahedrons float through the air, rotating, the glistening of the light that reflects on their 20 faces reveals their symmetry in its ultimate form. Entirely free, in search of a new order. With a great feeling of serenity, the viewer experiences how gravity gives these elements their new place.
BIOGRAPHY OF LEVI VAN VELUM
Levi van Veluw was born in the Dutch town of Hoevelaken in 1985 and studied at the ArtEZ Institute of the Arts in Arnhem. Since graduating in 2007, Levi van Veluw has produced multi-disciplinary works that includes photographs, videos, sculptures, installations and drawings. This varied body of work has been showcased in many different locations across Europe and the United States, earning him a number of nominations and awards.
Learning
2003-2007 ARTEZ Institute of the Arts, Arnhem, the Netherlands 2006 Internship Erwin Olaf Springveld 2009-2010 Art Teacher, Photography department, Willem de Kooning Academy Rotterdam, the Netherlands More information can be found on the website www.levivanveluw.nl. This site presents all the artist’s work in chronological order, with accompanying information.
Ümmühan Kazanç
