From his earliest days as one of the pioneering students at the Visual Arts Research Centre in Johannesburg under George Boys, André François van Vuuren has explored a free form way of expressing himself in an environment vibrant with activity. His visceral expressionist style is filled with figurative or abstract features that reveal themselves after prolonged study of his dense subject matter, rewarding the more involved viewer with a deeper, richer experience. He has developed an authoritative and impactful mastery of line, image and colour that have been inspired by his travels in Germany, Russia, Tuscany, Zanzibar and very recently in India.

He has exhibited extensively over the years and his work has been displayed in leading galleries in South Africa and Europe. He recently held his fiftieth solo exhibition in Johannesburg.

Tactile. Vibrant. Intrusive. The multi-dimensional art of André François van Vuuren.

In their vibrancy of image, colour and texture, his paintings mirror energy and raw power. It is where he confronts the viewer with visions that will unsettle, intrigue and challenge. The vigorous application of paint with brush or knife, leaves a three-dimensional surface that breaks out of the safety net of flat colour to actively reach out and invade the spectators space. The urgency of line and dynamics of colour give the images a feeling of motion and activity which evolves into a stream of consciousness as the faces speak from their turbulent and passionate existence.

André now lives in Riebeek-Kasteel.