Biography & Statement
Andre Visser (1964) is an abstract painter, artist, and creative director in the international fashion industry. He is originally from the Netherlands and now living and working both in Amsterdam and in Havana.
Andre is a creative talent and a visionary, an all-round fashion design executive, a brand builder and above all a passionate artist and painter.
His international career in the fashion world and his life as a cosmopolitan provided him with exceptional experience in and a deep understanding of the world of design, trends, travel, and art.
He has been working as a Design Director for European, American, Russian, and Asian global fashion brands.
With his Amsterdam based design company Reset Branding Andre also provided trend forecast and brand identity concepts for the international fashion industry.
Andre is the owner of A|S Boutique Residence, a luxury boutique hotel concept in Havana (Cuba) in a UNESCO World Heritage mansion that he has completely transformed into a unique design concept. (www. asresidence.com, @asboutiqueresidence).
Secondly, he is the owner of HAV Coffee & Art, an art gallery in the heart of Old Havana where local and international established artists exhibit their works and where music events and other art performances take place. (www.havcafe.com, @havcoffeeart).
With a degree from the Academy of Arts in Rotterdam, he has been following a lifelong passion for art with a great appreciation for the abstract arts.
He has an admiration for artists such as Antonio Tapies, Franz Kline, Gerhardt Richter, Robert Rauschenberg, Robert Motherwell, Pierre Soulage and Fabienne Verdier.
Despite his passion for drawing and painting himself, his design career did not allow him to paint as much as he anticipated. Therefore, after his recent complete career turn by starting his Havana projects, he decided to become fully dedicated to his art.
A lifetime of traveling the different continents and always embracing the urban metropolitan culture together with his engagement with the rich history of abstract painting, his work embodies a cultural mix of abstract arts. An Eastern touch with European and American influenced expressionism merge in improvisational created paintings.
As an abstract artist, Andre Visser creates his energetic abstractions with the pure emotion of the body and soul. Instead of the planned and controlled design that he knows so well from the fashion industry, he strongly believes in impulsive creativity and pure passion and expression to create his art. He gives space to the power of the spiritual and physical movement that leads to large expressive abstract artworks.
The intense participation of his body movements is a direct cause of the expressive and energetic power of this unique body of work.
Andre sublimates his spirit, his inner energy, and his visions into artworks that express a bold and powerful- as well as a tempered gestural and even sensitive language. His work hints at the existence of something beyond the material, something that reflects spiritual and physical emotion and that confronts the viewer in a tactile way with his own existence.
The art inspires a contemplative reaction to reality through the use of unexpected and raw technics and artistic expression. Andre transcends his esoteric components and virtuous forms of abstraction exploring the dismantling of organization.
No narratives, titles, or explanations are required since his art speaks a language of its own.
By working so directly from his inner soul his process-led art embodies a sense of eventuality, which at the same time fluently emerges into a harmonious whole.
‘.. by not working conceptually, my work becomes a concept’
The vast range of tools and materials used leads to new textures and structures and unexpected dynamics. Reevaluating traditional painting methods from different cultures and periods, Andre creates complex, expressive and diverse paintings.
He projects depth by the juxtaposition of thick paint and diluted watery paint and by building layers that accumulate texture. He never fears the abrupt and overpowering contrast of black and he plays with depth, foreground, and virtuous shapes.
Engaging with the painting techniques his artworks are built on fluidity, intuition, and respect and love for the materials, such as acrylic paint, cement, charcoal, and crayon. His dynamic shapes and earthy colors organically flow and move on the canvas and interact with the materials.
His career in design and fashion has given him in-depth knowledge of colors that he transforms into a natural use of color without rules and driven by his intuition, talent, and taste.
Painting is for Andre an essential part of his life and a magnificent medium for his creative expression.
‘…Wherever art appears, life disappears’ _Robert Motherwell
This catalog is a representation of the collection of artworks of Andre Visser.
The artworks presented here are partly for sale and partly they are in private collections. For extra-large artworks (above 3meters) Andre Visser preferably works by assignment.
For purchasing, commissions & collaborations, and other inquiries please contact us via direct mail. info@andrevisser.art
