Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Origin of the Beginning -Levi van Veluw


www.levivanveluw.com - http://www.behance.net

Press release: Ron Mandos Amsterdam is excited to announce the latest solo exhibition of Levi van Veluw.
We warmly welcome you to join us at the opening reception of this eagerly anticipated show on Saturday
the 21st of May from 5 to 7 pm, at which the artist will be present.
Levi van Veluw will showcase new work from a series of new installations,photographs and videos in which
he draws from his own childhood memories to thematically and narratively develop his own brand of
self-portraiture.The artist has created 3 “rooms” covered with more than 30.000 wooden blocks, balls and
slats respectively. (without any digital manipulation) Each“room” is executed as a life-size installation
(4m x 2.5m x 2.5m)  andwill be presented at the gallery together with photographs and videos.
Portrayed in one piece is a desk, a table lamp, a bookcase. The edge of the table is burned by Levi van Veluw as he had an obsession for fire. All of these objects including every inch of the floor, wall sand ceiling is covered in the same material: 14.000 16 cm2 dark brownwooden blocks. The blocks are made by the artist and glued on the wallone by one. The works suggest a narrative world behind the abstract portraits.






On the one hand these works present themselves as a continuation of van Veluw’s formal approach to
self-portraiture, with their preoccupation for materiality, pattern and texture. Yet they are simultaneously
verypersonal pieces. The repetitive structures seemingly express a ‘horror vacui’ and recall van Veluw the youth and his obsessive attempts to gain control on his life by gaining control of his surroundings. Dimly light and dark in colour the overriding tone of these pieces are claustrophobic and sombre, exuding a sense of loneliness.
The meticulous craftsmanship and high quality material with which every last knock and cranny is covered, result in a series of works that are also highly aesthetic.
These installations are inspired by different aspects of van Veluw's boyhood bedroom, where he spent many
solitary hours between the ages of 8 and 14: the Origin of the Beginning. Prinsengracht 282 // 1016 HJ 
Amsterdam // +31 20 3207036
www.ronmandos.nl / /[email protected] // Open: wed - sat, 12.00 - 18.00










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