JEROEN DUIJF

What Jeroen Duijf experiences outside the studio, he converts into images in the studio. He paints at the table, so that the thickly applied paint does not run from the canvas, to then give the works that are finished and dry a place on his full studio walls. There, his characteristic cartoony imagery returns, brought together in ever different combinations. “It’s actually one big comic book, “ says Duijf. In Jeroen’s universe a toy dinosaur radiates childlike innocence and fun, and a palm tree shows us paradise. Also, a skull appears as an ominous memento mori, who points out tonus with a broad grin the transience of life. Party hat on, cigarette in the corner of the mouth, laughter is allowed, but the outcome is certain. How direct the accurate painted characters on canvas appear at first sight, their meanings are not black ands white. Does the dinosaur have a clear conscience or does he, looking up at the dangerous T-rex with questioning puppy eyes, unexpectedly end up on the wrong path? Isn’t paradise ultimately more a redeemable place or even a prison, when the palm tree repeats itself in the pattern of wallpaper or allows itself to be captured like a wasp under a glass? And even though the skull pretends to be invincible, sometimes it is overgrown by nature or used disrespectfully as a candlestick, with the candle wax dripping down his helpless forehead. The roles can be reversed at any time. – Text by Merel van den Nieuwenhof.

Exhibitions at Galerie Nasty Alice: Art The Hague 2025 .  Een moment van onbevangen verwondering 2023 . Ménage á Trois 2022 . Een, Zwei, Drie, Vier 2021 . KunstRAI 2021 . Stranger Things 2019 . KunstRAI 2019 . Fiesta 2018 .