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Vansteenkiste Jonas
  -    -  Vansteenkiste Jonas
JV

© Richard Duyck

Jonas Vansteenkiste

In the exhibition “Rose is a Rose is a Rose”, Jonas Vansteenkiste’s works (Ruins and Victoria May Thatcher) explore the metaphorical and symbolic richness of floral and architectural motifs and extend the poetic resonance of Gertrude Stein’s iconic phrase. Evoking a tension between fragility and permanence, Vansteenkiste’s installations explore the intersection of nature, memory and human constructions.

In Ruins, Vansteenkiste juxtaposes the decay of architectural forms with the resilience and transience of floral elements. The work captures a moment of collapse and renewal, suggesting the transience of beauty and the inevitability of transformation. Flowers emerge from broken structures, embodying both the tenacity of life and the delicate balance between creation and destruction. This interaction invites viewers to reflect on the impermanence of human endeavor and the permanence of nature, reflecting Stein’s celebration of the cyclical rhythms of existence.

Victoria May Thatcher shifts attention to the symbolic weight of specific flower forms, which evoke cultural and political narratives. The work explores the rose not only as a universal symbol of beauty and romance, but also as a vessel for personal and collective memory. Through a meticulous interplay of materiality and form, Vansteenkiste constructs a layered narrative, giving the rose a sense of historical depth and contemporary resonance.

Both works fit seamlessly with the exhibition’s thematic examination of flowers and plants as metaphors for beauty, vulnerability and cultural significance. Vansteenkiste’s conceptual approach transforms these motifs into meditations on time and meaning, reflecting Stein’s linguistic deconstruction in visual form. His installations contribute to the exhibition’s lush, metaphorical garden by anchoring its poetic rhythms in architectural and sculptural research, offering viewers a space to reflect on the interplay between nature, language and human experience.

Website

1984 Born in Kortrijk, Belgium

Lives and works in Amsterdam, The Netherlands and Kortrijk, Belgium

2024 Head of Ceramic department at Gerrit Rietveld Academy, Amsterdam

Education

1996-2002 DAS art high school, Kortrijk

2001-2003 sculpture classes

2003-2004 KASK Gent 3D

2004-2006 KASK Gent Combined Media

2006-2007 KASK Gent New Media (Bachelor)

2008-2009 KASK Gent Media Art (Master)

2015-2016 research in arts & design, St-Lucas Antwerpen (Master After Master)

 

Jonas Vansteenkiste (b. 1984, Kortrijk, Belgium) is a multidisciplinary artist, a graduate of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts (KASK) in Ghent and St. Lucas in Antwerp. His practice spans architectural installations, where the boundaries of space dissolve into psychological intimacy. Through site-specific interventions, Vansteenkiste collaborates with space itself, surrendering to a process that relinquishes control. Architecture, with its inherent rules of intervention, becomes a vessel that listens, unraveling collective participation. His exploration of control and impermanence unfolds as a poetic reflection on loss, memory, and transience.

Vansteenkiste reconfigures the static nature of space into a dynamic site for transformation. This approach mirrors the cyclical nature of A Rose is a Rose is a Rose, where new layers of meaning are discovered, yet meaning itself remains an active potential. Vansteenkiste has completed residencies in Paris and Berlin and has exhibited internationally

The works of the artist Jonas Vansteenkiste are defined by spaces. He uses several media, i.e. installations, video, sculpture, photos and drawings. He refers and uses – both in a physical and psychological way – architectural elements.

He builds up spaces, or creates situations which can best be defined as “mental spaces”. Mental spaces have a resemblance with “Denkraum”, a notion mostly found in philosophy and architecture. “Denkraum” can be seen as building walls,

not only in but also from the chaos of one’s own perception,

emotions and thoughts to express in a clear way these experiences and feelings.

Jonas Vansteenkiste approaches curatorship with the same profound sensitivity and conceptual acuity that characterize his own artistic practice. As a curator, he creates spaces in which artworks do not merely coexist, but enter into dialogue with one another. His exhibitions are not static presentations, but carefully constructed narratives that invite reflection, discussion and meaning-making.

Central to Vansteenkiste’s vision is the relationship between space, object and context. His background as a visual artist gives him a unique perspective on how works of art influence space and are influenced by their surroundings. He sees exhibition spaces as metaphorical “houses” in which art is given the opportunity to tell its own story, while at the same time being embedded in a larger conceptual framework.

Vansteenkiste has a particular affinity for themes such as transformation, architecture and the tension between the personal and the universal. These themes are also evident in the exhibitions he curates. His curatorship aims to offer the visitor not only an aesthetic experience, but also an intellectual challenge. For him, art becomes a means of questioning both individual experiences and social structures.

Solo exhibitions

Group exhibitions