Joost de Jonge
Joost de Jonge was born in Utrecht (1975), The Netherlands, he works and lives in Vienna, Austria and Utrecht. He studied art history at Utrecht University (1995-1999) and painting in The Hague at the KABK Royal academy of Art, in Barcelona at the UB faculty of fine arts de StJordi (Erasmus exchange program) and at the Utrecht school of Arts (2002 BFA with Honors) where he had a second major in studio photography.
He is a widely exhibited Dutch artist with work in a wide range of international collections (Centraal Museum Utrecht,The Netherlands, Lisa Weithorn LA/USA, commune de Cologny/Geneva, Switzerland, to name a few). He started selling his work at the age of 14 to Dutch collectors and showing in Utrecht since 1995, where he had his first solo presentation. At Galerie reflex Amsterdam in 1999 he had a solo exhibition alongside Karel Appel at their revolutionary auction website. Shows at the World Trade Center in Amsterdam followed as of 2001. As well as showing his work in Barcelona (2001) at a group exhibition with Spain’s most famous artists’s works and involvement (Antoni Tàpies amongst others) at La Casa Elizalde. In 2004 he started showing in Italy at Galleria Studio Legale (Caserta/Naples/Rome) and at Italy’s most prestigious art fairs like Arte Fiera Bologna, MiArt Milan and Artissima Turin. Since 2006 his work was represented by Bill Lowe Gallery Atlanta/USA (until December 2018), where he started exhibiting in a grand duo show with Dale Chihuly in Atlanta (2006) and partaking in group shows in Santa Monica. Further showings followed in San Diego (solo/group-Alexander Salazar Fine Art), New Jersey, The Hamptons and New York City, at The Mark Gallery/Priska Juschka fine art in Manhattan; at Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, Santa Ana, CA, USA title: ”Music For Your Eyes" group exhibition / juror Peter Frank and in the summer of 2019 a group show at ViCA, Venice Institute of Contemporary Art. This all alongside showings of his work in his home country, the UK and Spain at several art galleries (EDDIE’S ART), a local museum (solo at the Stedelijk Museum Vianen 2011-2012) and at art fairs in Palm Beach, London, Vigo, Basel, Geneva/Cologny (solo) (Centre Culturel du Manoir de Cologny), Vienna, Amsterdam and Utrecht. In 2020-2021 he had an exhibition at the Centraal Museum Utrecht. For2023 a solo exhibition is planned in January at Tufenkian Fine Arts GLENDALE/LOS ANGELES: and at the City Museum of Rijeka (Croatia): solo.
In 2008 he began publishing catalogues of his work. In 2011, with his book The Ekphrasis Project: Oceanen van Kleur, he initiated his Ekphrasis Project, inviting art critics, art historians, and poets to respond to his paintings with original writings. One of the greatest novelists of the United States, Robert Morgan (Boone/Gap Creek) contributed an essay entitled “The Recent Paintings of Joost de Jonge”. http://theekphrasisprojectjdj.blogspot.com/p/robert-morganthe-recent-paintings-of.html
In 2014 the series became an online publication, and in 2015 he produced his first digital book with its own domain at http://www.paintedpoetry.org
Painted Poetry & Painterly Poetics—an ekphrastic notion. The collaborative project flourished with contributions from across Europe as well as from important American poets (Norman Dubie) and writers. His project received coverage from the international press (Columbia Journal/Versopolis).
In 2014 the art critic and curator Peter Frank interviewed him for a YouTube video entitled “Joost de Jonge: A Life of Art,” directed by Juri Koll and produced by the Venice Institute of Contemporary Art.