Remy Jungerman
Still Waters, Johannesburg
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.
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
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The abstraction in the work follows a rhythm Jungerman composes through lines that mirror the way the fabric falls on the body when worn.
Even though it is a gridded textile, the lines are not straight because once you put it on the body, it follows the shape of the wearer. This is something I wanted to connect in these works, that the body is very important; the movement of my hands, rubbing the clay on the surface, the carving of the lines, the dripping of the clay. The final layout of the lines creates a rhythm on the surface of the work - Remy Jungerman
Titles for works come from sonic influences and geographical locations of Surinamese Maroon settlements. The AGIDA series is guided by the low-tone, 2 metre-long drum that is played for a ritual that is connected to the Earth. This animates each panel, encouraging the viewer to see the tempo in each line.
The exhibition also includes Broos, a film composed of photographs and brief video clips Jungerman made during ancestral rituals held by descendants of the Bakabusi on the Rorac plantation in Suriname. The film exists partly as a contextual tool, offering a cinematic entryway into Jungerman’s references and materials. It also exists as a work on its own, located thematically at the centre, indicating the rhythmic energy that moves between all the works. Making its debut on the continent, the film was shown as part of his 2021/2 survey exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam.
Artist Bio
In his work Remy Jungerman (b. 1959, Moengo, Suriname) 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 enriches our perspective on art history.
Jungerman’s work has been widely exhibited internationally. In 2019, he represented the Netherlands at the 58th Venice Biennale and in 2022 he was the subject of a career survey show at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, titled ‘Remy Jungerman: Behind the Forest.’ A solo show ‘Crossing the Water’ was featured at Kunstmuseum Den Haag (NL) in 2015. His solo show ‘Tracing the Line’ was at DOTS Gallery in Belgrade, Serbia in 2023 and ‘Higher Ground’ at Katonah Museum of Art in Katonah, New York in 2022. In 2025, his solo show “Off the Grid: Remy Jungerman” was featured at Mondrian House, the birthplace of Piet Mondrian, and he participated in the second Biennial of the Amazons in Belém, Brazil.
Jungerman is co-founder of the Wakaman Project - Drawing Lines, Connecting Dots. Wakaman, which in Sranan Tongo means “walking man,” was born out of a desire to examine the position of visual artists of Surinamese origin and to help raise their profile(s) on the international stage.
In 2008, Jungerman received the Fritschy Culture Award from the Museum het Domein, Sittard, The Netherlands and in 2022, he received the A.H. Heineken Prize for Art. Author of Tracing the Lines: Patterns of the African Diaspora (Jap Sam Books, 2024), his work is also featured in Remy Jungerman: Where the River Runs (Jap Sam Books, 2019) and Remy Jungerman: Behind the Forest (Jap Sam Books, 2021).
Solo exhibitions include: 'Still Waters,' Goodman Gallery Johannesburg (2024); 'Fault Lines,' Goodman Gallery, London (2022).
Group exhibitions include: ‘Infinite Island: Contemporary Caribbean Art,’ Brooklyn Museum, New York (2007); Prospect3, New Orleans, US (2013); ‘Mondrian Moves,’ Kunstmuseum, The Hague, Netherlands (2022); ‘Wi Sranan: Surinamese Art in Transition,’ Museum Cobra, NL (2026); ‘Re-Inventing Piet Mondrian and the Consequences,’ Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Germany (2024); ‘Creative Journeys’ International African American Museum (IAAM), Charleston, US (2023); 'Spirit Levels,' CCA Glasgow, Scotland (2014).
Jungerman lives and works between New York and Amsterdam.
