Folkert de Jong
amsterdam born, looks to history / newspapers / old photographs for political and cultural reflections (like The Shooting...at Watou). drunken revelry and merriment have historically always been part of Dutch and Flemish culture.
confronts viewer with the character's insanity, as they're hyper-aware of the viewer's presence and meant to make us feel bothered
they look haunting, like singularly-driven characters risen from the dead, more nightmarish than dream-like, or as de jong puts it, "from the darker part of the human's subconscious." (great youtube vid of an interview with him / montage of works).
characters assume deceptive religious-like identities out of crisis: palm readers, false prophets, the great communicator, the manipulator, blue widows (beautiful sketch), architects, sculptors, and the devil (who's wearing a 'lifeguard' t-shirt lol), like in his Der Falsche Prophet exhibition. we're given something to believe in (despite its fiction), reflecting man's tendencies to direct things that aren't necessarily truthful into something recognizable. our need for guidance and role playing analyzed and critiqued.
styrofoam and polyurethane. art is fun with a capital Frightening
The Bitter Draught (Adriaen Brouwer) - lifeguard (the devil)
Das Schlachtfest (brouwer) - dinner scene
Smoking Men (brouwer) - lounging
Three Musicians (Picasso) - The Player / Circle of Trust
The Banjo Lesson (Tanner) - The Shooting Lesson
The Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer (Degas) - ballerina
Broadway Boogie Woogie (Mondrian) - Last Boogie Woogie
[via Saatchi Gallery, James Cohen Gallery]
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