Remy Jungerman was born in 1959 in Moengo, Suriname
He lives and works in Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Remy Jungerman attended the Academy for Higher Arts and Cultural Studies in Paramaribo, Suriname, before moving to Amsterdam where he studied at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy. In his work, Jungerman explores the intersection of pattern and symbol in Surinamese Maroon culture, the larger African Diaspora, and 20th Century “Modernism.” In bringing seemingly disparate visual languages into conversation, Jungerman’s work challenges the established art historical canon. As art and culture critic Greg Tate has remarked “Remy Jungerman’s work leaps boldly and adroitly into the epistemological gap between culturally confident Maroon self-knowledge and the Dutch learning curve around all things Jungerman, Afropean and Eurocentric.”

Born and raised in Suriname, Remy Jungerman is a descendant, on his mother side, of the Surinamese Maroons who escaped enslavement on Dutch plantations to establish self-governed communities in the Surinamese rain forest. Within their rich culture, many West-African influences are preserved including the prominent use of abstract geometrical patterns. Placing fragments of Maroon textiles, as well other materials found in the African diaspora such as the kaolin clay used in many African religious traditions or the nails featured in West African Nkisi Nkondi power sculpture, in direct contact with materials and imagery drawn from more “established” art traditions, Jungerman presents a peripheral vision that can enrich and inform our perspective on art history.

Remy Jungerman’s work is included in various collections: Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Centraal Museum, Utrecht, The Netherlands, Kunstmuseum, The Hague, The Netherlands, Zeeuws Museum, Middelburg, The Netherlands, ABN AMRO Collection, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Rennie Museum, Vancouver, Canada, Art Omi, Ghent, New York, USA, US Embassy, Paramaribo, Suriname, Hudson Vally MOCA, Peekskill, New York, USA, Francis Greenburger Collection, New York, USA, Saamaka Marron Museum, and various private collections.

In 2019, Jungerman represented the Netherlands at the 58th Venice Biennale with a the impressive Visiting Deities installation. Later that year, the artist had his introduction exhibition Neap Tide at Galerie Ron Mandos. In 2021-2022, Jungerman had a solo exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, titled Behind the Forest.

Visit the website of the artist here.

The arduous drawing process of Renie Spoelstra always begins with a journey. For close to a decade, she has travelled to coasts, lakes and beaches throughout North America and Europe. Recently she visited the volcanic islands of La Palma and Iceland, looking for landscapes that evoke overwhelming existential feelings. Once she has found these locations, she films the scenes, and by using the stills from the footage, she is able to move on to the next phase of conveying a personal representation of a geographic location. Her work is never about the locations she depicts – no matter how beautiful they are. They are always about triggering emotions and associations that sharpen our senses.

Renie Spoelstra uses film footage as a starting point for her charcoal drawings. The suede like and velvety texture is achieved by the many layers of charcoal, which are skillfully positioned on top of each other to re-create an almost cinematographic scene. The balance between darkness and soft beams of light is rendered through the many shades of black and grey, creating a notion that something may be lurking below the surface.

Renie Spoelstra looks for an atmosphere, and it is this atmosphere that she tries to re-create in her drawings. The dark hues, empty landscapes and sheer size of the works evoke an existential, melancholic sentiment, and allows for the viewer to lose oneself in each piece. Although these works are reproductions of real places, and are not imagined sceneries, the soulful nature of the drawings, and dark depths, reveal a personal interpretation of the artist’s emotion.

Themes of intensity, secrecy and mystery are reoccurring in Spoelstra’s works. There is an alluring and mythical feel of a place. The series ‘Stretching Universe’ refers to the scientific fact that our universe is expanding, while here on earth it feels as though it is shrinking with the rise of xenophobia, narrow-mindedness and the continuous threats of climate change. Fleeing, or escaping to nature is not as easy as it may seem.

Renie Spoelstra studied at St. Joost, Breda and at the Academie Minerva, Groningen. She has exhibited in the Netherlands and abroad, notably at institutions like the Albertina, Vienna; Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam, and Stedelijk Museum Schiedam. Her work is included in renowned collections such as the Centre Pompidou, Paris; MACBA Barcelona; Stedelijk Museum Schiedam; Centraal Museum, Utrecht; Cobra Museum voor Moderne Kunst, Amstelveen; Museum Voorlinden, Wassenaar; the Guerlain Fondation, Paris, and many other (private) collections.

The work of Inti Hernandez is embedded in the philosophy wherein life is defined as a perpetual flow of energy. In his view the question is no longer, “What can I pick out of this flow of energy to my personal liking and benefit?” but, “What could I contribute to this flow of life that is still missing? Hernandez believes that by finding answers to this question your ideas will always be welcome and will allow you something in return.

Hernandez sees art as a medium to create conversation and dialogue. The very nature of his work embodies collaboration. He explores meanings and triggers reflection through his artistic process and through the interaction with those who engage with his work. The more ideas are adopted as another’s subject, the more energy they gather and the more they connect to something fundamental. When ideas mange to create conversations they become something undeniable.

Architecture and Industrial design are both disciplines very much interconnected with daily life. In his work Hernandez plays with their language and with their multidisciplinary habits. By doing so he ensures a special flavour of common sense in his results. Through this process Hernandez obtains vital impute out of the dialogue with people, their dreams, ideas, necessities, priorities, spontaneity and initiative. He sees art as an established institution, which can be developed into business cases and showcases so that many other interests can participate with it- supporting it and being supported by it and thus gaining a benefit from it.

Inti Hernandez lives and works in between Amsterdam (The Netherlands) and Havana (Cuba).

www.intihernandez.com