April 12 - May 19, 2019
Folkert de Jong is best known for his theatrical, narrative tableaux that address themes of war, greed and power. “When I watch the news or follow the world by the media,” de Jong stated in conversation with critic Steven Cox in 2013, “I can’t believe what I am hearing and seeing, it seems like a déjà vu, something is repeating itself.” A sense of tragedy and absurdity, a comically desperate psychological state, permeates his work, particularly through the sculptural material for which de Jong became known: industrial Styrofoam and Polyurethane insulation foams. Harsh and rough with heightened expressive power in material and theme, de Jong’s figures embody a grotesque horror and macabre humor reminiscent of the work of the 20th century European artists Georges Grosz and James Ensor. As critic Gregory Volk has remarked, de Jong’s sculptures “communicate a range of emotions, or really complex states of being; stalwart purpose, mania, fanaticism, humor, malevolence, sadness, delusion, introspection, and even tenderness occur simultaneously. You surmise, and the title certainly tips you off, that there is something sinister and dangerous about this goofy parade, but then again you can’t dismiss these figures as mere symbols; they are too psychologically complex, too close to the bone.”
De Jong began working in bronze in 2012, and made his formal full debut in the medium for the solo exhibition Amabilis Insania: The Pleasing Delusion at the Middelheim Museum, Antwerp, in 2013-14. The addition of bronze to de Jong’s sculptural language represents an engagement with mortality, monumentality and world history that is more nuanced and less visceral than the use of modern synthetic compounds that defined the first 15 years of the artist’s practice.
Folkert de Jong (b. 1972, Egmond aan Zee, The Netherlands) studied at the Academy for Visual Arts and the Rijksakademie for Visual Arts (Amsterdam). He was awarded the Prix de Rome for Sculpture in 2003 and was featured in The Busan Biennale (2016), The First Kiev International Biennale of Contemporary Art (Ukraine, 2013), the Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art (Scotland, 2012), The 17th Biennale of Sydney (Australia, 2010) and in Athens Biennial (Greece, 2007). de Jong has had numerous gallery solo exhibition in New York, Milan, Amsterdam, UK, Spain, Mexico City and more. Museum shows includes Hepworth Wakefield (2014, Wakefield, UK), Musée d’Evreux (2014, Evreux, France), Middelheim Museum (2013, Antwerp, Belgium), Un Vie d’Illusions, Musée d’art Contemporain (2013, Rocheouart, France), MUDAM Museum (2013, Luxembourg), Portland Art Museum (2013, Portland, Oregon), Groninger Museum (2009, Groningen, The Netherlands). Folkert de Jong is represented by Luis Adelantado Gallery, Valencia, Spain and Mexico City; Fons Welters Gallery, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Chez Valentin, Paris; DENK, LA, US; Louise Alexander, Sardinia, Italy; and MARC STRAUS, New York, US.
Videos:
Hollandse Meester: Folkert de Jong
Folkert de Jong in Middelheim Museum
Artist Talk: Folkert de Jong at Mudam Luxembourg
Selected Works
Ex Voto
2020
Candle wax, aluminum, cloth, steel thread, pigments
Der Schwebende
2020
Epoxy, pigments, LED lights
Tumbler
2019
Epoxy resin, pigment
15.75 x 15.75 x 9.45 in (40.0 x 40 x 24 cm)
The Boxer
2019
Pigmented polyurethane, plywood, metal, silicone rubber
74.8 x 19.7 x 25.6 inches (190 x 50 x 65 cm)
The Ventriloquist
2019
Pigmented polyurethane, office chair, metal screws
63 x 26.4 x 34.3 inches (160 x 67 x 87 cm)
Installation of Las Chicas De Aviñón
2018
Pieta
2017
Pigmented polyurethane, dentist's chair, metal screws
Shirley
2017
Pigmented polyurethane, wood, metal screws
76.375 x 47.25 x 41.0 in (194.0 x 120 x 104.1 cm)
Fermen LA
2017
Pigmented polyurethane, wood, metal screws
76.375 x 47.25 x 41.0 in (194.0 x 120 x 104.1 cm)
Night Portal 3
2015
Polyurethane, spray paint, plywood, powder coated metal
55 x 39.4 x 33.5 in (140 x 100 x 85cm)
From Stately Throne
2014
Patinated Bronze
82.6 x 35.4 x 25.6 in (210 x 90 x 65cm)
The Knights Move
2014
Acrylic glass, pigmented polyurethane foam, metal, wood, plastic, spray paint
98.4 x 27.5 x 27.5 in (250 x 70 x 70cm)
Actus Tragicus
2013
Styrofoam, pigmented polyurethane foam, spray paint, rope, metal hanging hardware Dimensions variable
Installation view of the "The Man from Delft" exhibition
2011
The Balance #1
2010
Styrofoam, pigmented polyurethane foam
Dimensions variable, Approx. 92.5 x 275.6 x 137.8 in (235 x 700 x 350cm)
Human Pyramid (The Joker)
2007
Styrofoam, pigmented polyurethane foam
86.6 x 98.4 x 59 in (220 x 250 x 150cm)
The Shooting... At Watou
2006
Styrofoam, polyurethane foam
98.4 x 787.4 x 315 in (250 x 2000 x 800cm)
Exhibited Poetry Summer Watou 2006
Folkert de Jong, Dust
2004
Styrofoam, polyurethane foam, silicone rubber
67 x 39.4 x 39.4 in (170 x 100 x 100cm)