Nick Veasey

Born 1961

The Electric Chair

Digital print as an x-ray photograph.

2009

59.4 x 42cm

An exhibition and auction of works donated by British & international artists to raise funds for the Helen Bamber Foundation

5 - 7 May 2009 at

Maddox Arts, 52 Brook's Mews,

London W1K 4ED

A man with x-ray vision, Nick Veasey creates images that show what it is really like inside.

Nick's work with radiographic imaging equipment takes the x-ray to another level. Everyday objects are given another meaning and the layers and make-up of natural items are shown in fantastic detail.

Before making this weird but wonderful career path Nick worked in Advertising and Design. This has resulted in strong conceptual imagery and a no-nonsense 'can do' approach to projects. Such tenacity has resulted in unique large scale x-rays of buses and planes.

He is motivated to explore what lies beneath the surface in a world obsessed with 'image' and superficial looks. A man that peels back the layers to see what things are made of. Metaphors for the images are many and varied and their context is very relevant in today's society with the prevalence of surveillance the use of x-ray technology for security.

The ethereal and fascinating images have collected a host of International awards. Nick Veasey's personal work is shown in swanky galleries, the world over. The Victoria and Albert Museum in London have added his work to the British National Collection of Photography.

A detailed understanding of scientific imaging has helped Nick make otherworldly short films and TV commercials. Collaborating with scientists and boffins to solve other scientific imaging issues is set to become an increasing distraction.

An artist that pushes boundaries in pursuit of his calling - does he glow in the dark? Has he got lead underpants? What can't he x-ray?

We live in a world obsessed with image. What we look like, what our clothes look like, houses, cars… I like to counter this obsession with superficial appearance by stripping back the layers and showing what it is like under the surface. Often the integral beauty adds intrigue to the familiar. We all make assumptions based on the external visual aspects of what surrounds us and we are attracted to people and forms that are aesthetically pleasing. I like to challenge this automatic way that we react to just physical appearance by highlighting the, often surprising, inner beauty.

This society of ours, consumed as it by image, is also becoming increasingly controlled by security and surveillance. Take a flight, or go into a high profile courtroom and your belongings will be X-rayed. The post arriving in corporations and government departments has often been X-rayed. Security cameras track our every move. Mobile phone receptions place us at any given time. Information is key to the fight against whatever we are meant to be fighting against. To create art with equipment and technology designed to help big brother delve deeper, to use some of that fancy complicated gadgetry that helps remove the freedom and individuality in our lives, to use that apparatus to create beauty brings a smile to my face.

To mix my metaphors, we all know we shouldn't judge a book by its cover, that beauty is more than skin deep. By revealing the inside, the quintessential element of my art speculates upon what the manufactured and natural world really consists of.

2009 Victoria & Albert Museum, London. Invited to add two pieces to the British Collection of Photography

2009 Sept Nick Veasey – Opening exhibition for X-Ray Museum, Deutsches Röntgen-Museum , 42897 Remscheid, Germany.

2008 Nov – Jan XFUNS Gala 08 X = Secret, Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei, Taiwan

2008 Nov The Really Naked Celebrity Exhibition, In collaboration with The National Osteoporosis Society, The Gallery in Redchurch Street, 50 Redchurch Street, London GB

2008 – Current Nick Veasey X-RAY, Millenia Fine Arts, Las Vegas, USA, Millenia Fine Arts, New York, USA, Millenia Fine Arts, Orlando, USA, Millenia Fine Arts, Virginia, USA

2008 X-Ray: See Through The World Around You, Hunterian Gallery - Royal College of Surgeons, 35-43 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London WC2A 3PE GB

If you would like to know more about our work go to the Helen Bamber Foundation

The Helen Bamber Foundation
5 Museum House
25 Museum Street
London WC1A 1JT
Phone: 020 7631 4492 Fax: 020 7631 4493

Email us at info@helenbamber.org

Registered Charity No. 1111048