Andy Neuro
BA Fine Art (honours) 2000
In traditional Chinese art the painter intentionally leaves a slight flaw in his/her artwork. It is a reminder that we as humans are not perfect.
I have thus far led a charmed hedonistic existence and have had plenty of solitude to reflect on it. My art is therefore closely linked to memory. I engage in the science fiction/fact way in which we remember. As creating the artwork is a task that takes considerable time, so my paintings express this organic process as various sensations unfold. The paintings are thus rarely snapshots of a particular event, but rather an overlaying of events to express a narrative that can only be told in a visual sense on what essentially starts as a two-dimensional surface. No other medium affords such depth of liberty, as the viewer is able to engage with the surface in a way that is more divorced from our physical world than the impositions of sculpture or multi-media mediums. Painting, drawing, printing and collage invite you to leave your body behind and climb through the ‘window’ into another reality.
The dimensional proportions of this reality can be manipulated by the artist in a way that forms a dialogue with the viewer on this astral plane. This can be a taxing demand on the viewer, but I do not make art for stupid or lazy people, their demands are well catered for by society. Instead I believe intelligence lies in open-mindedness. Humankind’s greatest fear is the unknown. We are inescapably bound to its existence and endeavor to create a balanced relationship with it. Getting this balance right is the key to our happiness.
As with life, I do not to conform my memories to one emotion. Sometimes I offer warnings and engage in social issues as humanity disappoints. Sometimes I celebrate humanity when it deserves praise. And sometimes I leave humanity behind altogether and engage in the psychedelic dialogue that we share with nature.
South African Artist: Andy Neuro
Awards
1998:
Awarded the Irma Stern bursary for top student (2nd year)
2000:
Sent to Berlin to represent Michaelis in the Sony World Art Student competition.
Awarded the Michaelis prize for painting.
2nd prize Kirstenbosch photographic competition.
2008:
Awarded 1st prize at the Community Arts Festival.
Selected Exhibitions
1999:
Explicit Exhibition, Garden Centre
Quality Control, Independent Armchair Theatre
2000:
Quality Control II, Independent Armchair Theatre
Sony World Student Competition, Sony Centre, Berlin
2001:
All Welcome – Launch Exhibition of Neurotickles, Mowbray
Neurotickles - Obs Café
2002:
Wildlife – Sun Gallery
2003:
Bring It Home – Channel 5 Studios
Play Body Art Show – Obs Cafe
2004:
Spindle Sect Studio Launch – Mercury Studios
Roswell Kings Album Launch – Independent Armchair Theatre
Exposure Film Festival
Expansion – Art Café
2008:
Neurotickles – Muizenberg
2009:
Communitree Arts Festival - Muizenberg Neurotickles
2010:
Neurotickles Solo Exhibition 194 Victoria Rd, Woodstock
Neurotickles Solo Exhibition Jean Bell Gallery, Worcester
Publications:
2001 Neurotickles comic book.
What is your favourite film of all time?!
The Secret Adventures of Tom Thumb, Yellow Submarine, Tommy
What music are you currently listening to and why?
Various – dubstep, 80s and 90s underground rock, trance, drum and bass (each has its time and place – but if they were to have something in common it would be their intensity, abrasive energy and massive bass kick that just make me want to fly onto a dance floor)
Which living artists do you most admire and why?
Ron English, Alex Grey and Mark Ryden – they are all incredible painters and keep the medium very much alive in an art world turning increasingly towards multi-media for its answers.
Which deceased artist do you most admire and why?
Hieronymus Bosch – the father of visionary painting.
Which exhibition that you have visited made the greatest impact on you and why?
British Sculpture exhibition at ISANG – as a painter I have to look outside of the medium in which I create in order to be suitably mystified and impressed.
What is the question you get asked most frequently about your work and how do you answer it?
What inspires you? – life, the party, the ocean, the forest, the love, the friendship, the family, the light and the darkness and the visions that contain these things in my mind.
What/ who inspired you to be an artist?
Myself, love, despair, nature and the visions. Also my art teachers and art friends.
Can you tell us about where you make your art and what if any, the significance of this location is
I have a studio at home in Muizenberg both inside and outside. This area has influenced the subject of my paintings to reflect the personification of natural beauty.
What do you like most about being an artist?
The clear conscience, the sensitivity to beauty, the respect and the sense of satisfaction.
What is your greatest achievement as an artist to date?
I represented Michaelis at the Sony World Student Art competition. I won best artist at a Muizenberg Art festival. I won 2nd prize at the Kirstenbosch photographic competition. I won a couple of bursaries at university. I painted a mural at an orphanage in Gugulethu. I was sent to Grahamstown by an art publication and numerous solo exhibitions.
What are your plans for the coming year?
To develop my visionary paintings so that they becoming increasingly accurate. Look after my son. Find love. Explode as an artist. Move closer to town. Find an art residency that suits my needs.