The Spectacle: Nemo Jantzen
BLANK SPACE is pleased to present an exhibition of Dutch artist Nemo Jantzen (b. 1970). This exhibition features the artist’s mixed media photography whose technique of disintegration is represented through a series of portraiture. The Spectacle will be the artist’s first solo exhibition with the gallery, and will continue until August 20.
Consisting of nine portraits, the exhibition will explore how changing perspectives demand new ways of seeing, and perception is arbitrated by the voice of media. The inception of Nemo Jantzen’s glamour portraiture formed as he explored the idea of how messages are indirectly delivered through media, which influences social behavior and perception of aesthetic. Jantzen created as the subject of each portrait iconic figures and poster faces commonly seen in advertisements, television, billboards and social media. Up close, the images of separate circles are cinematic stills or vintage photographs associated with the subject of the portrait. Magnified beneath resin and glass spheres, the individual photographs together with the alluring expression of the subject of the portrait convey a sense of voyeurism, as the visual spectacle draws the viewer to examine the work at a closer distance. Divided, yet whole when viewed collectively, the portraits explore the variable nature of perception. According to the artist, the portraits “reflect an idealized world filtered through the demands of the eye of the beholder.”
Inspired by manipulation of perspective in cinematography, and productivity of digital photography, Nemo Jantzen mastered the innovative technique of piecing together globular units to form an image of a photograph, thereby blurring the lines between Photorealism and Pop Art. He gathers hundreds of photographs, sorts them by color and theme, and employs them as building blocks of his mixed media photography. This experimental approach, as the artist describes, is “taking Neo-Pointillism to a new level.” Distinct pixelated units of color are arranged to give just enough information for the viewer to form an image of the subject in the mind.
Nemo Jantzen (b. 1970) was born in The Hague, Netherlands, to a family of artists and musicians. From an early age he acquired a passion for visual arts, and went on to study art and design at the RTO Art Academy in Rotterdam. He began his formative years as a graphic designer and billboard artist, in Antwerp, Belgium, and later pursued his passion for Fine Art in Spain. Mastering his distinct technique and artistic style, he gained recognition and acclaim from galleries and collectors internationally. Jantzen has since held exhibitions in the United States and countries in Europe, and participated in international art fairs in London, Amsterdam, Singapore, New York and Miami. His work is in the collection of the GEM Museum in Netherlands, Museum of POPA in Switzerland, Museum Diocesa in Spain, and international private collections.
