André de Jong and His Theater

With “André de Jong and His Theater,” The Merchant House (TMH) is pleased to present new works by the distinguished Dutch artist André de Jong (b. 1947). Now in his fifth major exhibition at TMH, the show reflects one of the most prolific periods of his career, which has encompassed drawing as well as photography, sculpture, and land art, and poses the question: What is it about drawing, above all, that has continued to fascinate André de Jong for over five decades?

“André de Jong and His Theater” presents several of de Jong’s new open-ended drawing series, together with photography, sketchbooks, selected objects, and a commissioned video work. In the gallery-wide installation, de Jong’s epic forms in black on white (in ink, pencil, graphite, and charcoal on an array of his favorite papers) unfold in sequences that do not seem to have a particular end and confirm that the very practice of their making constitutes its own theory. He finds the forms that perform.

Every exhibition of de Jong is an occasion to discover what his long days of inquiry and his unrehearsed studio “performances” might yield. This time, there is also a dedication: to painting, with works of Beppie Gielkens (b. 1942, NL), de Jong’s partner and also an artist of TMH. The inclusion of paintings by Gielkens in the exhibition acknowledges the important role that painting plays in their artistic life, as well as the significance that painting holds for him. But what we see in the works of de Jong, with Gielkens’s lush color surfaces in counterpoint, is the line itself, front and center. We cannot help but marvel at the imagination behind these works and the desire to register one’s life in drawing, the very qualities that continue to fascinate us in art.