Sculptures by Folkert de Jong
Folkert de Jong is best known for his theatrical narrative paintings that address themes of war, greed and power. "When I watch the news or follow the world through the media," Folkert de Jong stated in a conversation with critic Stephen Cox in 2013, "I can't believe what I hear and see, it's like deja vu, something repeats itself..."
A sense of tragedy and absurdity, a comically desperate psychological state permeates his work, especially through the sculptural material for which Folkert de Jong has become known: industrial styrofoam and polyurethane foam. Sharp and crude, with heightened expression of material and subject matter, Folkert de Jong's figures embody grotesque horror and dark humour, reminiscent of the work of twentieth-century European artists Georges Gross and James Ensor.
As the critic Gregory Wolk has observed, Folkert de Jong's sculptures "convey a range of emotions or truly complex states of being; unwavering determination, mania, fanaticism, humour, schadenfreude, sadness, delusion, introspection and even tenderness are shown simultaneously... You cannot dismiss these figures as mere symbols; they are too psychologically complex, too close to the core.
Based on materials: www.marcstraus.com/artists/folkert-de-jong
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