10 may 2022, Flor Linckens
Joncquil: a semi-retrospective
Until 15 May, Galerie Ramakers in The Hague is showing the exhibition '10 - 04 MID - LIFE - CAREER - QUESTE' by Joncquil. The Dutch artist found that in terms of statistics, he is now halfway through his career. That stimulated him to look back, without the pressure to offering a complete overview. That is why you'll find a number of personal favorites from his oeuvre in this exhibition, combined with a few possible routes for the future.
Joncquil's practice is quite broad and versatile: he makes paintings, as well as sculptures, installations, drawings, video works and photography. But his enigmatic works are not always easy to interpret. The artist is a strong proponent of free association and personal interpretation, precisely because this constantly changing context — and changing times — can imbue the work with added depth. His works often have a certain poetic value, like the work 'une centaine de rêves et cinq cauchemars' from the collection of Museum Voorlinden. That work consists of a bed in which the mattress has been exchanged for 105 ostrich eggs: a hundred dreams and five nightmares. Sometimes his titles refer to literary works, proverbs or popular culture. For instance, the painting 'Resonance of a flower man that bears resemblances to a memory of Pessoa' (2021) in the exhibition at Galerie Ramakers refers to the famous Portuguese poet and writer.
Joncquil, zelfportret als archeologische vondst, 2012, Galerie Ramakers
The works of Joncquil tend to be fragmentary, alienating and a bit elusive. They appear to refer to dreams or vague memories. The passing of time, and the lack thereof, is a recurring theme in his work. His titles often add a certain humorous layer to the work. In the exhibition at Galerie Ramakers, for example, we see 'self-portrait as an archaeological find' (2012), which might be best described as a human do-it-yourself kit that consists of bones in a 'cardboard' box, made entirely of ceramics.
Joncquil, IS WORDT en WAS - zitten op een bank, 2018, Galerie Ramakers
We also see Martin Visser's iconic slatted bench, which Visser designed at the request of the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. On top, Joncquil placed three words in neon: is wordt was ("is becomes was"). A third work almost resembles a fairytale: at first sight, 'Levitation of the unstable table' (2019) seems to consist of a floating hat on a levitating table. But if you take a closer look, you can see that the whole apparently rests stably on five glasses. In 'Retrieving Mondrian from Fukushima' (2013) we see a skeleton in neon colours that seems to run off with an inverted Mondrian. One thing is clear: perhaps you shouldn't want to understand Joncquil's mysterious work, but rather let it wash over you.
Joncquil, Levitation of the unstable table, 2019, Galerie Ramakers
