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André Peypers grew up in Durban,
Kwa-Zulu Natal, and graduated with a BA Honours Degree in Fine
Arts. Later, he found himself in the heart of the winelands in
Stellenbosch, Cape Town, South Africa. Today he lives with his
wife and three children in the United Kingdom where he is regarded
as an International Artist with his paintings in private
collections in Washington DC, Toronto Canada, Germany, France,
Rome Italy, United Kingdom, Channel Isles, Australia, Qatar and
lastly, South Africa.
Determination and dedication are two essential qualities in
following the artist’s call, and André has been prepared to
sacrifice to achieve goals. Four months into his final year at
high school, he decided to repeat the previous academic year
because of the introduction of art as a subject at his school.
Peypers is a versatile artist,
with a distinctive soft-focus style, making his works desirable
and hugely collectable. Peypers prefers to work on very large
scale canvases, adding a dramatic visual impact to his composition
and subject matter. What many artists endeavour to grasp and
achieve in their lifetimes comes naturally to André. He combines
with absolute success the use of rich, robust, velvet like colours
that jump out to grab you. At the same time his work possesses a
stillness, mirroring the quiet reflections and drawing us into
that silent world to explore. The success of this striking effect
of moving colour is achieved by using only the primary colours,
giving André the freedom to create his own spectrum of hues and
texture.
André paints magnificent floral studies in macro vision. A single
flower becomes a landscape of textures, colours and a tango of
light and shadow.
André's wildlife scenes create
the impression of viewing animals through a powerful zoom lens.
Details are faithfully captured, often in tightly cropped
compositions drawing one's eyes into a visual safari.
You will notice at first glance that some of the works appear to
be unsigned. Upon closer inspection you’ll see André’s signature
on the side. This is to give you the added pleasure of displaying
the artwork at different angles. This unusual application inspired
an Italian collector to purchase one of André’s paintings of red
tulips for his private collection in Rome displaying it upside
down with great effect. He was pleased to share that it would have
pride of place between his Andy Warhol and Henry Matisse.
André's favourite subject is his zebra studies. Zebras have always
fascinated him in the way their stripes define their body shape,
their eyes and poses reflecting individual moods and
personalities. Zebras natural instinct is to stand together to
confuse any situation of imminent danger (unlike human species).
He zooms in and crops their natural behaviour. The large scale
canvas allows him to work almost life size bringing movement into
the composition. At first glance the viewer finds it difficult to
focus on one specific zebra (as in the case of the predator). As
the viewer steps backward, the composition starts to unfold with
planes of open spaces; created by the grazing zebras, composing an
almost abstract landscape in and between the towering necks and
faces of the other zebras. Tension builds up, and the composition
becomes a tango of sharp in-focus and soft out-focus zebras. The
strong burnt sienna and black stripes flow from one zebra to the
next - sometimes in perfect line with one another enhancing more
confusion to the viewer. Therefore the best light for viewing the
painting is in a soft-lit room with the dominating flickering of
burning wood in a fireplace, creating definite movement between
the zebras as the light reflects off the white stripes.
André's determination and dedication also carried him through a
daunting commission in 1997/1998 – painting the 30m high ceiling
during restoration of the old Durban Post Office - originally the
first City Hall in Durban. Upon discovering that the essential
detail to the inside of the building was irretrievably lost, André
was commissioned to painstakingly add the detail by using paint
techniques - a truly monumental example of his capability and
undeniably bright feather in his cap.
Specialist Paint Finishes is another art form that comes
naturally to this versatile artist. His artistic application of
paints creates a specific finish which is achieved by skillfully
combining layers of colours and different mediums.
Andre enjoys recycling furniture by giving it a new (or used .)
look. He restores and uses paint and techniques to achieve the
desired result and style. See examples of a plain piano
transformed into an Antique French decorative (and functional..)
art piece and other furniture.
André successfully created a three
dimensional extension (Tromp L’oeil)
on a dull flat wall in a dark corner of
a Stellenbosch restaurant.
André
has a unique ability to create an exquisite atmosphere out of
found objects. After a storm destroyed a part of this house –
Artist’s House Guesthouse, he had the opportunity to design and
rebuild this patio using mostly natural elements from its
surroundings for e.g. building a stonewall with stones found on
the farm, incorporated a set of old wooden doors and made use of
the natural cement colour to create this rustic look. He managed
to keep the magnificent view from the patio by placing a large
window in the corner - serving as a shelter during the windy days. |
