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Welcome to the
professional Art Gallery of La-Passerelle.net
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Andrew Lewandowski
painter
St. Louis Missouri United States
Andrew's work can be viewed at Outsider Info and has been represented by Ghost Dog Gallery and Art Mango Gallery.
Raw Arts Festival London....2004
Zeitgeist Gallery, Detroit, Michigan....2005, 2006
Raw Arts Festival Italy....2006
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Fr. Andrew Paul Lewandowski, O.F.M is a member of the Franciscan Province of
the Sacred Heart and a Roman Catholic priest. He has worked in parishes in
Michigan, Illinois, and Missouri and taught High School English, Art, and Religion
in Chicago and Cleveland. He has a M.Div. degree from Catholic Theological
Union of Chicago. He is presently chaplain for the Franciscan Sisters of Mary in
St. Louis.
A PERSONAL HISTORY OF MY ART
I remember getting into trouble with my folks when I was nine because I
found the refrigerator rather boring. I thought it needed some color. It took me
hours to clean off the crayon masterpiece.
In 1979 or so ( I really don’t keep very good track of dates) I experienced a
“nervous breakdown”. I was clinically depressed and seriously considered suicide.
I am fortunate enough to belong to a Order that really looks after its own and ask
to find treatment. I went to a therapeutic center south of San Francisco for 8
months. While in treatment I found myself drawn to the art room where we had
art therapy. I spent hours playing with clay and doodling. It was here that I first
discovered the artist within. When I left the facility and returned to the Midwest, I
was given permission to spend two years studying art at Quincy College (now
Quincy University) in Illinois. I was hoping to get certified for teaching and return
to my Province to service in our High School in Chicago. I found out that I could
not complete the course of study to complete a B.S. in Education and be certified in
the amount of time allotted to me. So I opted for a B.A. in Art concentrating on Art
History while taking as many studio course I could in order to get practical
experience. I already had a B.A. in Philosophy and an M.Div. degree from
Chicago Theological Union.
I found sharing with the young artists I was with a fantastic experience, but my
experience with the head of the Art Department was difficult. At the senior review
held by the art department he revealed to me that I was almost rejected, but
because I was not going for a B.F.A. the other professors had talked him into
passing me. My drawing skills in his estimation were too primitive and
unprofessional. With my degree in hand, I spent a year in Chicago teaching. I
quickly discovered that I was a better teaching English Literature than Art.
Greatly disappointed by this knowledge, while also knowing I could not take the
stress of the classroom, I returned to parish work. From that time on I dabbled
with art. I began to believe that I was not really an artist and that I would never be
one. But the urge to create would continue win out. At that time I bought a few
brushes to add to what I had from my Quincy experience and worked with craft
paint. My work always looked bad to me. It was not the stuff you would find
getting into juried shows. This kept on until about four years ago. Frustrated with
myself and a very difficult Parish in St. Louis, I found a job as chaplain for a group
of Benedictine Sisters. I was given the space that is now my studio and began to
dabble again. Throughout my college experience I only had one painting class:
watercolors. Now I bought tubes of acrylics. I figured they were cheaper and
easier to deal with than oils. All you need is water, a surface, and the paint. I also
began to pick up children’s coloring markers and experiment with them. I still did
not believe that I was an artist. I would show my work only to those with who I felt
safe. I learned that no matter how much I wanted others to like what I was doing;
that some people never would. I heard often that I should find a gallery and sell
my work. People who say that have no idea what the art world is like. Besides, I
truly felt I wasn’t good enough and that I would not put myself through rejection.
But encouragement kept coming my way. Then, while browsing Borders
bookstore, I discovered the work of a little girl: Alexandra Nechita. I would sit for
hours pouring over her marvelous work. A little voice deep with me kept saying:
you can do this. But, I wouldn’t believe. Then I discovered at that same bookstore
a book on Jean-Michel Basquiat. I related to his anger and frustration, and to his
color and his rawness. I began in earnest to experiment with a variety of media
working on paper, mostly index cards. I still have many of these drawings. My
thought was: use whatever it takes to express yourself. After finishing over a
hundred of these little works I felt it was time to take the plunge and work larger. I
purchased acrylics and canvas and began. I kept saying to myself that just because
I had the time to do this didn’t mean I was really and artist. But that was to
change. I was regularly searching the web for artists. The first one that blew me
away was Matt Lamb. Once again, I heard myself saying, you can do this. Then I
discovered Kelly Moore and Jay Marvin and Sewow. I finally found Outsider Art
Info, John Yemen’s website. John had a invitation posted to artists. Just send him
files for his consideration. I said to myself: why not. I’ll take the risk the worst
that could happen is that he never gets back to me. But John did get back to me. In
fact he called me. Here was a collector of outsider art who was excited about my
work. He asked for one of my paintings to own as a trade to be included on his site.
I will be eternally grateful to him. He was the first to see something in my work,
and I began to be willing to risk more. I found Yessy Gallery and began to post.
And, to my delight and surprise I sold several of my works. I set up my own
website which I continue to maintain. I looked around for free links, and I looked
for galleries that might be interested in selling my kind of work. Ghost Dog
Gallery accepted me and although they no longer exist I continue to be grateful to
them. Presently I am selling work at Yessy and a new Gallery Art Mango. In 2004,
I received and invitation by Pier Midwinter to be included in the London Raw Art
Festival. It has been two and half years and I have been doing better than I ever
imagined I would. I continue to experiment. I taught myself how to work with
acrylics and now I am learning how to work with oils. My visual vocabulary is
growing, and I finally accept myself as an artist. The last step took place about
year ago, when I said to myself: this is how you draw, and there is nothing wrong
with it. After all, nothing in nature is perfect, that’s what makes it so interesting.
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