Without exception, the works by Jeroen Cremers, (formerly known as Jerry Kowalsky,) have a dystopian air about them. Various different influences converge in his artworks to form a new worldview in which modernist stylistic influences effortlessly merge with the history of ancient Egypt or other civilisations of antiquity. His artwork used to show enlarged body parts and utensils in cardboard, a kind of ‘wonderland’, as the artist calls it. After many years of working primarily with cardboard, he returned to an old love: ceramics. Cubes and pyramids dominate Jeroen’s new sculptures. The images are characterised by animal forms, but in the place of their heads, the artist has arranged strange stacks of geometric shapes. Shapes that point to the past, but also to elements from science fiction, such as the black monolith from the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. A universe of strangers, abandoned objects reminiscent of remnants of ancient cultures or cartoonish worlds.

“Corona shook everything up.” Jeroen has recently viewed his dystopian works through a different lens. “My work seemed to have a prophetic aspect to it; the world changed drastically all of a sudden and that causes a lot of uncertainty.” Jeroen set aside fears of his ceramics breaking in the kiln, surrendering to fate and surprise, with unexpected distortions and structures as a result. Working with an element of uncertainty is perfectly aligned with the now so very relevant theme of Jeroen’s imagery: “They form part of a world that has been turned on its head through drastic change or unfathomable danger.”

• Recent exhibitions: Two Parts Impossible, One Part May Be 2021 • The Control Room 2019 at Expo Bart Nijmegen • Big Art 2019 • Go Figure 2018 at Galerie Bart.

Jeroen Cremers, born in 1972, in Reuver, NL, currently lives and works in Berlin and Grasse. In 2000, Jeroen graduated with a BA from the Maastricht Academy of Fine Arts and Design. In 2001, 2002 and 2021 he received a grant from the Mondriaan Fund.

Jeroen has exhibited in various group and solo exhibitions in Spain, Germany, France, USA, Italy, Macedonia and The Netherlands. His solo exhibitions include Syntax error at Till Richter museum in Bugenhagen and Alt-control-delete at Cacaofabriek Helmond in 2023. Group exhibitions include Enclosed space II at Brauers, Köln in 2023, Head to head at GBS Fineart in Somerset UK, and Kreatur at Reiter Berlin Prospect, Berlin.

Galerie Bart has been working with Jeroen since 2018, which has resulted in group exhibition Go Figure! in Amsterdam, art fair participation at Big Art 2019 and a solo project at Expo Bart Nijmegen.

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2023 •
12.07 Brabant Cultureel Expo Ctrl-Alt-Del in de Cacaofabriek voelt als een reis door tijd en ruimte by Anja van den Akker.

2022 •
13.01 Het Parool Een enorm roombroodje gepresenteerd als architectonisch hoogtepunt by Edo Dijksterhuis.
18.09 Stuttgarter Zeitung Kunst aus Papierschnipseln und Pappkartons by Anette Clauß.

2020 •
04.02 Autre Beers London presents humoral theory by Morteza Khakshoor, Jerry Kowalsky & Moley Talhaoui, editorial.
21.01 squaremile The best sculptors in the world by Richard Cork and Kurt Beers.

2019 •
09.03 Into Nijmegen Hoe klinkt karton? Kunstenaar Jerry Kowalsky experimenteert in Galerie Bart by Leonie Modderkolk
26.08 Maz Geheimnisvoller Künstler: Werke von Jerry Kowalsky in der Galerie am Klostersee, editorial.
01.09 100 Sculptors of Tomorrow by Kurt Beers Richard Cork, for Thames & Hudson Ltd, 288 pages.

2017 •
12.12 Zuiderlucht Beeldspraak: romp op pootjes by Wido Smeets.