George “Zip” André

 

I'm an artist based in St. Louis, Missouri, who loves to make abstract expressionist paintings. 

​

After nearly seven decades as a pilot—an international airline captain, a test pilot at the edge of space, an air racer, airshow performer, and combat fighter pilot in the skies over Vietnam, I am finally fulfilling my lifelong dream of creating art.

​

why abstract expressionism?

​

When I'm not soaring through the sky, I dive into the inner atmosphere of my imagination. Painting—especially abstract expressionism—gives me unlimited freedom to create and experiment with colors, shapes, textures, and scales. After all, abstract expressionism is about the expression of abstract ideas, feelings, thoughts—even sounds—in a visual way. To go one step further, the resulting painting or drawing is itself abstract in that it isn't intended to mimic the outward visual appearance of an object, or a landscape, or anything you might see in the physical world.  

My abstract expressionist paintings appeal not only to those who see the works as physical objects, but also to those for whom the shapes, forms, or colors evoke intangible feelings. These responses are, of course, subjective and vary from person to person. There is no right or wrong way to think or feel; there's no hidden meaning or puzzle to solve.

​

I work mostly on canvas and use a mix of paint types, including oil, acrylic, enamel, and watercolor. I employ brushes, palette knives, and other tools to build layers until the elements coalesce into a stimulating image.

 

If my art has elicited for a viewer even the slightest emotion—positive or negative—then I have succeeded as an artist.