Folkert de Jong

Biography

°1972, Egmond aan Zee, NL

Lives and works in Amsterdam.
Graduated from the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten Amsterdam in 2000.
International Studio and Curatorial Program in New York 2004.

Folkert De Jong made an international name with his life-size sculptures in chemical high-tech materials that are mainly used for household tools and the manufacturing industry. The bright colours and the light weight of the foam sculptures deliberately confuse the viewer with an apparent lightness that is at odds with their sinister subject. The grotesque figures are an unorthodox means to highlight themes such as mortality and decay.

Folkert de Jong showed a monumental installation at Art Basel Unlimited and had a solo exhibition in 2023 in Kunsthal KAde. His sculptures have been collected by Centre for Visual Arts, Dordrecht (NL); GEM Museum for Contemporary Art, Den Haag (NL); Groninger Museum, Groningen (NL); Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University (USA); Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles (USA); The Plancius Collection, Amsterdam (NL); Middelheim Museum, Antwerp (NL); and The Saatchi Collection, London (UK).

Folkert de Jong is represented by Gallery Sofie Van de Velde and Galerie Fons Welters (Amsterdam).

°1972, Egmond aan Zee, NL

Lives and works in Amsterdam.
Graduated from the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten Amsterdam in 2000.
International Studio and Curatorial Program in New York 2004.

Folkert de Jong is represented by Gallery Sofie Van de Velde and Galerie Fons Welters (Amsterdam).

	Selected Solo Exhibitions
2025	Upcoming solo exhibition, Gallery Sofie Van de Velde, Antwerpen, BE
2024	'The Hero, the Villain and the Truth', Brutus, Rotterdam, NL
2023	'Kunsthal Kade', Amersfoort, NL 'Laurenskerk', Alkmaar, NL 'Sharing Stories', Museumkerk, Oud-Rekem, BE
2022	'Kunstenfestival Aardenburg', Aardenburg, NL 'The Shooting...1st of July 2006, 2006', Gallery Sofie Van de Velde, Art Basel Unlimited, Basel, CH Duo/solo exhibition, Galerie Chez Valentin, Paris, FR Solo exhibition PRJCT, Los Angeles, US
2021	'The Game', Gallery Sofie Van de Velde, Antwerp, BE 'Omina', Museum Het Valkhof, Nijmegem, NL 'Front space', Galerie Fons Welters. Amsterdam, NL
2020	'The Shooting...at Watou; 1st of July', Galerie Fons Welters, Amsterdam, NL 'Ex Voto', Grote Kerk, Veere, NL
2019	'Beginnings', Galerie Fons Welters, Amsterdam, NL 'Tumbler', Marc Straus Gallery, New York, USA
2018	'Last Nation', MOCA, Tucson, USA Luis Adelantado Gallery, MX DENK Gallery, Los Angeles, USA Galerie Chez Valentin, Paris, FR
2017	GEM, The Hague, NL 'Totémisme', monCHÉRI, Brussels, BE 'Plasma Pool', Luis Adelantado, Valencia, SP
2016	'And Nothing But The Truth', Brand New Gallery, Milan, IT
2015	'Court of Justice', Galerie Fons Welters, Amsterdam, NL 'Hominid Lands', James Cohan Gallery, New York, US 'Actus Tragicus', Luis Adelantado Gallery, Mexico City, MX
2014	'Hominid Lands', Musee d’Evreux, Evreux, FR 'The Holy Land', The Hepworth Wakefield, Wakefield, UK 'The Primacy of Matter over Thought', Galerie Dukan, Paris, FR 'Desengano', Galeria Luis Adelantado, Valencia, ES
2013	Middelheim Museum, Antwerp, BE 'Actus Tragicus', Mudam, Luxembourg, LU Portland Art Museum, USA
2012	'The Bull's Eye', ARARIO Gallery Seoul, KR 'The Immortals', Galerie Dukan Hourdequin, Paris, FR 'Act of Despair', André Simoens Gallery, Knokke, BE 'The Immortals', Mackintosh Museum Glasgow, Scotland, UK
	Selected Group Exhibitions
2024	Vigil-Death & Afterlife, Loods 6 Bagagehal, Amsterdam, NL
2024	Vertrokken Onbekend Waarheen: Museum W, Weert, NL
2023	Art Cologne, Gallery Sofie Van de Velde, Cologne, DE
2022	'I Can Live Forever', curated by Folkert de Jong, Gallery Sofie Van de Velde, Antwerp, BE 'The Hero with a 1000 faces', Galerie Maurits van de Laar, Den Haag, NL
2019	'Destroy All Monsters', Comrades of Time Comrades of Time Comrades of Time Comrades of Time, Stichting Whatspace, Basel, CH 'Vrijheid - vijftig Nederlandse kernkunstwerken sinds 1968', Museum De Fundatie, Zwolle, NL 'Hate Speech. Aggression and Intimacy', Künstlerhaus, Halle für Kunst & Medien, Graz, AT 'Trouble in Paradise', Collection Rattan Chadha, Kunsthal, Rotterdam, NL
2018	'Out of Office', Singer Museum Laren, Laren, NL
2017	'Archive Fever', Kunstruimte De Nederlandsche Bank, Amsterdam, NL
2016	'Zoals jij en ik', Art Chapel, Amsterdam, NL Busan Biennial, South Korea, KR 'Waanzin en werkelijkheid: Werken uit Rabo Kunstcollectie en Verzamerling Würth', Kunstlocatie Würth, Den Bosch, NL 'Once in a Lifetime', Oude Kerk, Amsterdam, NL 'Sonsbeek '16', Arnhem, NL 'GlassFever', Dordtyart, Dordrecht, NL Beeldengalerij, The Hague, NL 'The Holyland, The Fields Sculpture Park', Omi International Arts Center, Ghent, New York, USA 'Show Your Wound', curated section TEFAF, Maastricht, NL
2015	'Sculpture in the City', London, UK 'Beastly Beaty', New York Academy of Fine Art, New York, NY, USA 'Lustwarande 15: Rapture and Pain', International Sculpture Exhibition, Park De Oude Warande, Tilburg, NL 'Ctrl + Alt + Del, de toekomst nu', dertien hectare, Heeswijk-Dinther, NL 'The Amsterdam Trail', Galerie Lemaire, Amsterdam, NL 'Full House', Molsdorf Castle-Kunsthalle Erfurt, DE 'Manifesten', Museum Kranenburgh, Bergen NH, NL 'Picasso in Contemporary Art', Deichtorhallen, Hamburg, DE 'In search of meaning', Museum de Fundatie, Zwolle, NL 'Beautiful beast', Wilkinson Gallery, New York Academy of Art, New York, USA
2014	'Affinities #1', Galerie Fons Welters, Amsterdam, NL 'Music Palace', Villa Empain, Fondation Boghossian, Brussels, BE 'Ingewikkelde beelden', Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, Den Haag, NL 'Post Picasso – Contemporary Reactions', Picasso Museum, Barcelona, SP 'Dramedy', Fort Worth Contemporary Arts, Fort Worth, TX, USA 'The Body Metonymic: International Contemporary Sculpture', Oakland University Art Gallery, Oakland, CA, USA
	Prizes
2005	Den Haag Sculpture ‘Orange Award’
2004	Thieme Art Award RAI Art Fair Prize
2003	Nomination Prix de Rome, Sculpture
2002	Charlotte Köhler Prize