Goodman Gallery is delighted to present Remy Jungerman’s first major solo exhibition on the continent, Still Waters. The show continues the artist’s exploration of the visual, historical and psychogeographical connections between West Africa, Surinamese Maroon culture and 20th century Modernism.
Over the past 30 years Jungerman has woven thematic threads that are deeply connected to his birthplace, Suriname, placing fragments of Maroon textiles and other materials found in the African diaspora in direct contact with materials and imagery drawn from more “established” art traditions. Through this the artist presents a peripheral vision that enriches our perspective on art history. At the core of his practice, Jungerman uses kaolin clay and gridded textiles employed for rituals in the Afro-Surinamese Winti religion, harnessing their symbolic presence in his work. Winti people use the clay on their bodies for purification and wear specific fabric colour combinations that correlate with the four key elements: water, earth, air and forest.
Still Waters sees a new body of work where Jungerman presents a looser use of the kaolin clay, dripping the substance down panels covered in fabric. This produces multiple layers on the surface and points to the artist’s process in the studio as a libation. Born within this framework, the works become the consequence or “leftovers” of this spiritual offering. The water used in the clay mix also alludes to a to the ocean between the continents, invoking the story of how African peoples were taken as slaves to the Americas.
Artworks
About
Remy Jungerman
Remy Jungerman (1959) attended the Academy for Higher Arts and Cultural Studies in Paramaribo, Surinam, before moving to Amsterdam where he studied at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy.
In his work, Jungerman explores the intersection of pattern and symbol in Surinamese Maroon culture, the larger African diaspora, and 20th century Modernism, placing fragments of Maroon textiles and other materials found in the African diaspora—the kaolin clay used in several religious traditions or the nails featured in Nkisi Nkondi power sculpture—in direct contact with materials and imagery drawn from more “established” art traditions, Jungerman presents a peripheral vision that both enriches and informs our perspective on art history.
In 2022 Jungerman received the A.H. Heineken Prize for Art, the biggest visual art prize in the Netherlands.
From November 20, 2021 – April 10, 2022 he was the subject of a career survey show at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam titled Remy Jungerman: Behind the Forest. In 2019 he represented the Netherlands at the 58th Venice Biennale in 2019. In 2017 he was nominated for the Black Achievement Award in The Netherlands.
In 2008 he received the Fritschy Culture Award from the Museum het Domein, Sittard, The Netherlands.
Jungerman is co-founder and curator of the Wakaman Project, drawing Lines – connecting dots. Wakaman, which means “walking man,” was born out of a desire to examine the position of visual artists of Surinamese origin and to raise their profile(s) on the international stage.
He has exhibited works at: Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, NL; 58th Venice Biennial, Dutch Pavilion, IT; Prospect3, New Orleans, US; Brooklyn Museum, New York, US; El Museo del Barrio, New York, US; Hudson Valley MOCA, New York, US; Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, US; New Jersey City University, New Jersey, US; Rennie Museum, Vancouver, CA; Amsterdam Museum, Amsterdam, NL; Kunstmuseum, The Hague, NL; Centraal Museum, Utrecht, NL; Museum Arnhem, NL; Museum De Domeinen, Sittard, NL; Afrika Museum, Berg en Dal, NL; Tropen Museum, Amsterdam, NL, Museum Volkenkunde, Leiden, NL; Zeeuws Museum, Leeuwarden, NL; Museum Tongerlohuys, Roosendaal, NL, Galerie Ron Mandos, Amsterdam; NL, Fridman Gallery, New York, US; Goodman Gallery, London, GB; Lumen Travo Gallery, Amsterdam, NL; Havana Biennale, CU; Museum Bamako, ML; Museum Tromso, NO; Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, DE; Badischer Kunstverein, Karlsruhe, DE; Schloss Oberdiessbach, CH; Malba, Buenos Aires, AR; Cemeti Art House, Yogyakarta, ID; Gallery Krinzinger, Salzburg / Vienna, AT; Stedelijk Museum Aalst, BE; Musée Art Contemporain, FR; Air de Paris, FR.
Jungerman lives and works between Amsterdam and New York.
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