10 September - 18 November, Athens




Dutch artist Folkert de Jong makes lifelike, figurative work often presented as sculptural installations in order to give shape to the darker, violent side of existence. His sculptures are made from the unconventional industrial insulation materials, Styrofoam and polyurethane foam, whose seductive colour palette and inherent toxicity are what he refers to as, ‘one big moral contradiction’. Best known for his work that employs the vehicle of the ‘grotesque’, De Jong reflects upon the paradox of contemporary life in which advances in global policy, economics, science and art exist alongside the continuous forces of war, misfortune and catastrophe.

At the 1st Athens Biennial ‘Destroy Athens’, De Jong presents the monumental installation Seht der Mensch ‘The Shooting Lesson’, consisting of a group of seven figures, situated on a monumental pile of tree trunks all made from the same material. The characters are based on the circus family of Picasso’s famous painting ‘Les Saltimbanques’. Central in the installation, a small boy is following his father’s instructions how to use bow and arrow. The body of work is entirely built in different shades of green. For Folkert de Jong this ‘night vision’ scene of a family gathering is what he calls a ‘tunnel view’ to the origin of violence, rooted deeply in human fear of nature’s threats and the desire to conquer it.

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1st Athens Biennial 2007
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