The statue (2) Print

Jarik Jongman (1962), after studying at the Art Academy in Arnhem, worked as an assistant to Anselm Kiefer in France. He has exhibited regularly abroad, including in Berlin, London, New York, Jerusalem, and twice at collateral events of the Venice Biennale, in 2009 and 2011. In 2010, he won first prize (shared) in the UK National Open Art Competition, with Gavin Turk as jury chairman. His work has been selected for the Threadneedle Prize and the John Moores Prize, and was exhibited at the Liverpool Biennial in 2012. In 2017, he won the Luxembourg Art Prize. His work is included in collections both in the Netherlands and abroad. He uses his own photographs as well as material found at flea markets and on the internet as a starting point for his work, in which architecture often plays a role. Recurring themes in his work include: ontology, transformation, religion, and history. A recent series of work depicts abandoned buildings overtaken by nature. These works are both unsettling and comforting due to the underlying idea that, after all human activity has ceased, the earth and nature will endure. He has also been progressing into a new direction, incorporating abstract elements in his figurative work and obscuring historical and political references by melting them together with personal memories, cinematographic references or art historical elements.