Nick Veasey, a man with X-ray vision, creates art that shows what it is like inside. Nick’s work with radiographic imaging equipment takes the X-ray to another level. Everyday objects are transformed from the banal to the beguiling, and the layers and make-up of natural items are shown in fantastic detail.

These works are a classic example of the fusion between art and science. The results transcend classification as photographs, having the gravitas to motivate science institutions and art galleries to acquire the artworks. The Victoria and Albert Museum in London has recently added his work to the British National Collection of Photography.

In today’s world obsessed with ‘image,’ superficiality, and artifice, Veasey counters such insubstantial diversions by delving inside and discovering what things are made of. Metaphors for the images are many and varied. Their context is very relevant today with the prevalence of surveillance and the use of X-ray technology for security.

The artist’s work can be seen as a project that harnesses and exploits modern technology to advance the boundaries of perception and art. But what sets him apart from other artists is not only the technique.

Instead of creating or transforming things, he is exposing something that always existed, objects we think we know but we don’t. Not from the inside out.

The subjects of his attention are manifold. Flora, fauna, DJ Decks, ordinary objects such as shoes, a typewriter, and a classic Morris Mini. Mainly, whatever surrounds us and is tangible. Although working with the manifest, he achieves the uncovering of the invisible. Veasey’s X-rays penetrate the surface and take us on a journey into a world otherwise hidden and unseen.

The work is a dazzling balance of extremes, using lethal radiation to produce results of great lyricism and grace. Veasey’s X-rays penetrate solid matter to render it ghostly and gentle, giving the viewers that precious feeling that they have somehow seen reality afresh with an aspect of life that they have never before experienced.

An artist who pushes boundaries in pursuit of his calling.

AVAILABLE WORKS

ABOUT THE ARTWORKS

The Process - Working with X-rays is dangerous. So, safety is paramount. Nick has built a bespoke concrete structure to contain the radiation. Inside are several different X-ray machines and a film processor. The different X-ray machines have varying outputs and capabilities.

Subjects to be x-rayed are placed on the floor or wall. The film is placed under or behind the subject. The X-rays pass through the subject and make an image on the film. That image is the same size as the objects. Several films are used if an object is too large to fit on one film.

This film is processed and scanned on a high-resolution scanner for optimum detail and sharpness. Large and complex objects can take months to complete. The result is an x-ray of unparalleled detail and beauty.

Lenticulars - British photographer Nick Veasey doesn’t use a regular camera. He uses X-rays to capture the inner workings and beauty of various objects, large and small. A typical medical X-ray lasts all of 0.2 sec., so his X-ray photo requires more like a 5-minute exposure. The X-ray image is the same size as the object being photographed, so you can imagine the amount of work involved when taking pictures of large objects like a car, a bus, and an airplane. A Mini Cooper car can contain 300 images of the doors, seats, tires, etc., all digitally reassembled into a photo. Where “people” pictures are concerned, he uses dead people and skeletons.

Veasey has taken this process to the next level with lenticular prints. Each lenticular work reveals movement through several images as the viewer moves around the piece.

Lenticular is a ribbed lens that refracts light from different angles. When sequential images are split behind the lenticular lens, the picture looks like it moves or is animated. It is amusing that this motion brings our x-ray of corpses to life. By creating x-ray portraits of iconic figures, Nick’s constant reference mantra of “inside we are all the same” becomes even more resonant.

As the viewer moves in front of the artwork, the movement within the image is revealed.

Machines - Revealing the technical complexity, design, and intricate engineering of the mechanical

Nick’s work is a classic example of the fusion between science and art. He messes with dangerous radiation-emitting X-ray machines to create beautiful, incredibly detailed X-ray artworks. These are not the X-rays we are used to seeing in hospitals but amazingly complex creations that take months, if not years, to create. It is common for Nick to use hundreds of separate X-rays to create large-scale works. His process is painstaking and highly unusual (not many artists have a radiation-proof concrete bunker for a studio!). This is an art that is at once engaging and, upon closer inspection, dramatically revealing. There is a lot to discover in Nick’s work. The overriding pervading message is that society’s obsession with superficiality and materialism pales insignificance compared to the importance of what we and the world are made of. It’s what on the inside that counts.

Recent career highlights include two major retrospective museum exhibitions, one in Korea and the other at Fotografiska Stockholm, the world’s largest photography museum. The show in Sweden was such a success that paying visitor numbers were over 100,000 for the 8-week duration. That’s over four times the expected amount, the unparalleled popularity occurring primarily by word of mouth. Visitors included the Swedish and British royals. In addition, Nick has worked in important institutional and museum collections around the world, most notably London’s Victoria & Albert Museum, with which he collaborated in x-raying their fashion collection. The V&A describes Nick’s work as “Forensic investigations of rare beauty and intrigue”. We agree with that sentiment, and Art Angels is sure that all visitors will be fascinated by Nick’s unique X-ray vision.

Exhibition Aspen | February 2024

ART ANGELS IN ASPEN*

*All artworks in the exhibition are courtesy of Art Angels LA

BIOGRAPHY

Nick Veasey is a man who sees the world in X-ray vision. X-ray is a spectrum of light invisible to the human eye, and harnessing it produces a magical insight. From a bridal couple to clothing items and large machinery, his work has integrity and honesty as it shows items for what they are.

Stripping away the layers of everyday life to reveal an often-surprising beauty, his cutting-edge techniques challenge society’s obsession with the superficial by using x-rays of everyday objects and showing what they are like under the surface.

He delves inside objects to discover what things are made of, often using metaphor to allude to the prevalence of surveillance in modern society. Fascinated by the inner workings of everyday items, Nick details every aspect of a subject, exposing all to the human eye. His art combines engineering, science, and photography elements to achieve robust and intriguing results.

Each piece tells a unique story inspired by actual events or personal experiences; they resonate with Nick’s mantra of “inside, we are all the same” and evince a robust emotional response from viewers. Believing there is always more than meets the eye, he exposes his subject from the inside out and captures beauty in its mechanical workings, creating an expressive new dimension to the concept of fine art. Inspired by the floral radiographs of the photographer and scientist Albert G. Richards, Nick has X-rayed everything from Christmas trees to the fashion designs of Alexander McQueen. Most famously, Nick created a life-size rendition of a Boeing 777 jet airliner using over 1,000 separate X-rays, which featured on the side of a hangar for United Airlines.

Nick’s unexpectedly lyrical imagery is created using medical and industrial radiography machines. Invisible to the human eye, high-energy electromagnetic radiation is an ethereal but dangerous medium, and his studio wall is lined with 35cm of lead. As one of the few artists to master the creative possibilities of unifying science and art, he is a genuine innovator, and his work is becoming ever more technical and impressive. Nick favors the Diasec method, which creates artworks that elegantly appear floating off the wall in a modern, frameless style. This gives the X-ray itself the most significant possible impact and detail, as museum-quality archival Chromogenic prints are pressed between di-bond on the back and polished Perspex on the face. Many people think these artworks are backlit, but the contrast between the high-quality gloss deep black background and detailed X-ray makes the art ‘pop.’ These images are also available as light boxes, which offers another way to accentuate their x-ray concept. He has also made a series of stunning and ingenious lenticular portraits using a ribbed lens that refracts light from different angles. Multiple images are split behind the lenticular lens to create animation, adding playfulness to his pictures of the human form.

Nick’s artworks transcend classification as photographs, having the gravitas to motivate science institutions and art galleries to acquire them. During 2017-2018, he had a retrospective exhibition at the world’s largest photography museum, Fotografiska, in Stockholm and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. He has recently added his work to the British National Collection of Photography. A major four-month retrospective of his work opened at the Erarta Museum of Contemporary Art in St. Petersburg in October 2021, featuring 50 x-ray artworks, three types of video, and detailed information on his process and inspirations, a large-scale event that has made a massive impact.

As well as working with prestigious brands including Porsche, BMW, Levi’s, and Nike, Nick has exhibited worldwide and featured in publications including National Geographic, Wired, and the Independent. He has appeared on television for the BBC, NBC, and Discovery Channel, lectures regularly, and has published two books. Nick is not afraid to push boundaries of subject and scale, driving the X-ray Art Market. A four-month retrospective of Nick’s work opened at the Erarta Museum of Contemporary Art in St. Petersburg in October 2021. Large scale and high impact, the exhibition features 50 x-ray artworks, three types of video, and detailed information on Nick’s process and inspirations.

"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 consists of."

COLLECTIONS

Works by Nick Veasey are currently displayed in the following museum collections:

Deutches Roentgen Museum Remscheid, Germany

Museum Villa Rot Burgrieden, Germany

Science and Technology Museum Milan, Italy

Natural History Museum Tring, UK

National Media Museum Yorkshire, UK

Victoria & Albert Museum London, UK

AMOREPACIFIC Museum of Art Gyeonggi-do, Korea

Fort Wayne Museum of Art Fort Wayne, IN, USA

MASS MoCA North Adams, MA, USA

Musée de Design et D’Arts Appliqués Contemporains (MUDAC) Lausanne, Switzerland

Museum of Contemporary Art Taipei, Taiwan

Museum of Contemporary Art San Francisco, USA

The Museum at FIT New York, NY, USA

Nick Veasey Article New York Times

Nick Veasey Article Daily Mail

Nick Veasey Article Forbes

Nick Veasey Victoria and Albert Museum Exhibition