M21 Gallery is pleased to announce Jenetta de Konink’s exhibition ‘Drumroll and Moments of Seriousness’.
Between 1978 and 1983 Jenetta de Konink (°1958, Rijswijk) studies at the Royal Academy of Art in Den Bosch. In 1983 Jenetta graduates in Fashion Design in the Art and Design department. Until 2000 she works as a fashion stylist. Around the turn of the century, the artist finally decides to devote the rest of her life to painting.
Since 2006, she has regularly exhibited in her own country and abroad. She takes part in ‘The Art Fair’ in Amsterdam and exhibits her work in a solo show at Gallery 57W57ARTS in New York, among other things.
From the beginning of her art practice on Jenetta feels an enormous need to paint. The direct and confident touch of oil paint suggests that the artist wants to make up for her lost years. Initially the artist paints on self-made canvases of cotton and linen and on wooden panels. In her search for the ideal carrier, she finally decides to paint on brown wrapping paper. The paper is glued to the canvas before she starts painting.
After a few years, oil paint as a medium proves to be insufficient for Jenetta de Konink. She explores new ways of expressing herself through her painting. In the VREES (fear) series created in 2018, the artist experiments with pressing unpainted canvas onto the pasty oil paint layer. On these added pieces of canvas she again applies thick layers of oil paint. In this way, multiple layers are created on top of each other, resulting in an enormous layering in her work.
Her technique continues to evolve. Jenetta replaces the pieces of canvas with embroidery patches and carpet residues that she finds in second-hand shops. This step is a logical evolution in her art practice partly thanks to her affinity for textiles. The artist very intuitively pastes the textile remnants onto her work in order to obtain contrast, depth and framing of an image. The pasted embroidery pieces in combination with oil paint ensure that there is a certain playfulness and movement in her work.
During the first lock down of the coronavirus pandemic, the artist created the series ‘The Drummer’. For Jenetta de Konink, her paint brush is like the seismic needle of her heart. With great devotion the artist translates her uncertainties and fears onto canvas. She reduces her story to its core, giving her autobiographical work a universal character.
Figuration is a necessary starting point for Jenetta. The artist predominantly figures herself as a model in her works. A shutter speed of 10 seconds decides which of her poses will be captured in the photograph. Jenetta's oeuvre mainly consists of series with a strongly repetitive character of figures, human postures and wilted flowers.
