Joost van den Toorn

Dutch, 1954

Joost van den Toorn was born in 1954 in Amsterdam and studied at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam. He lives and works in Zaandam. In the past forty years Van den Toorn has become known for his figurative bronze sculptures whose literal quality and exaggerated features make them unique in Dutch sculptural tradition.

His works can’t be defined in terms of innovation and experimentation, but rather should be described as contrary, humoristic and nonconformist. Van den Toorn introduces contradictions in his work to undermine the intentionally literal aspect of his sculptures. This results in a layering of meaning and material. As he sums it up in an interview from 1991: “Even when things become larger than life itself they still should retain a human dimension. This goes back to alchemy: you need to combine light and heavy things in order to show both.” Van den Toorn’s work exhibits a certain affable contrariness and immediacy. He doesn’t feel the need for any high-flown unifying theme or conceptual justification, on the contrary, he uses or recycles every image that appeals to him, irrespective of its high or low origin. This results in sculptures that are not bothered much with good taste: disturbing representations that seem to embrace ugliness, but which aim to be more than just ugly.

An important and fertile source of inspiration for Van den Toorn is the punk era of the 1970s. This period has shaped him as an artist. With a healthy dose of rebelliousness and unburdened by historical dogma’s, he focuses on liberating sculpture. The comparison with the anarchic and socialcritical American artists Mike Kelley and Paul McCarthy is not as far-fetched as the sculptures might suggest. What they share is the pleasure in disrupting and undermining the myth of the artist and the cult of images. In Van den Toorn’s own words: “I take up a position somewhere between the plasterer and the artist.”

Solo exhibitions include: “Something to believe in”, Groninger Museum (2016); “Something to believe in”, Keramiekmuseum Princessenhof, Leeuwarden (2016); “Hoe een koe een haas vangt”, Galerie Nouvelles Images, the Hague (2015); “Something to believe in”, Willem Baars Projects, Amsterdam (2015); ”Joost van den Toorn en de Outsiderkunst”, Kröller Müller Museum, Otterlo (2010); Rijksmuseum Twenthe, Enschede (2002); Galerie OZ, Paris, FR (1997) and “Joost van den Toorn 1983 – 1996”, Hannema de Stuers Fundatie, Heino / Wijhe (1996)

Group exhibitions include: Hondenleven, Leids Universitair Medisch Centrum, Leiden (2016); “The Sculpture Show”, Willem Baars Projects, Amsterdam (2015); “Paden naar het Paradijs”, Rijksmuseum Twenthe, Enschede (2014); “Verlangen naar Volmaaktheid”, Kröller Müller Museum, Otterlo (2014); Bird Watching, Vishal, Haarlem (2007); ”Habakuk & Co, a courtesy to Max Ernst”, Art Affairs, Amsterdam (1997); “La Beauté Inexacte”, Galerie OZ, Paris, France and “Schräg”, Rheinisches Landesmuseum, Bonn / Kunsthaus, Hamburg, Germany. Next to exhibiting internationally,

Joost van den Toorn has executed numerous commissions for public artworks in the Netherlands, including: “Sailor”, LUMC, Leiden (2013);” NON PLUS ULTRA”, Randwijk, Limes kunstwerk, Provincie Gelderland (2012); “Vogelman”, Oldenelerbroek, Gemeente Zwolle (1998) and “Every Dog has its Day” (corporate gift, ed. 88), Gemeente Amsterdam (1994)

Joost van den Toorn, Pride Walk, 2023

Joost van den Toorn, Pride Walk, 2023

Bronze
45 x 17 x 14 cm
Edition of 7

Available artworks

Joost van der Toorn, Pride Walk, 2023

Joost van der Toorn, Pride Walk, 2023

Bronze
45 x 17 x 14 cm
Edition of 7
Joost van den Toorn, Pierlala, 2022

Joost van den Toorn, Pierlala, 2022

artist monogram and edition number incised
bronze
27 x 45 x 12 cm
Edition of 7
Joost van den Toorn, Dreamtime Machine, 2022

Joost van den Toorn, Dreamtime Machine, 2022

artist monogram and edition number incised
bronze
29 x 70 x 15 cm
Edition of 7
Joost van den Toorn, Slak, 2021

Joost van den Toorn, Slak, 2021

signed and numbered
bronze
51 x 22 x 38 cm
number 2 from an edition of 7
Joost van den Toorn, Atomic Dog, extended version, 2018

Joost van den Toorn, Atomic Dog, extended version, 2018

polished silium, bronze
34 x 63 x 15 cm
edition 2 of 3
Joost van den Toorn, Vier Veren Waterval, 2018

Joost van den Toorn, Vier Veren Waterval, 2018

bronze
73 x 40 x 29 cm
edition of 7
Joost van den Toorn, Coffin Cruise, 2018

Joost van den Toorn, Coffin Cruise, 2018

earthenware
18 x 38 x 15 cm
Joost van den Toorn, Kirra, 2015

Joost van den Toorn, Kirra, 2015

Earthenware 34 x 37 x 22 cm
Joost van den Toorn, Hedendaagse Postmoderne Vaas, 2014

Joost van den Toorn, Hedendaagse Postmoderne Vaas, 2014

maiolica earthenware
61.00 x 21.00 x 22.00 cm
Joost van den Toorn, Sailor, 2012

Joost van den Toorn, Sailor, 2012

bronze, 56 x 35 x 29 cm
Joost van den Toorn, Rudi Carell, 2010

Joost van den Toorn, Rudi Carell, 2010

earthenware majolica
Joost van den Toorn, Ms. Deo Volente, 2008

Joost van den Toorn, Ms. Deo Volente, 2008

bronze and small pines, 22 x 36 x 8 cm
Joost van den Toorn, Napoleon, 2008

Joost van den Toorn, Napoleon, 2008

first grade silver (3250 grams) on sodalite, 59 x 39 x 23 cm

Publications

HET MOET GEWOON KLOPPEN, 2015

HET MOET GEWOON KLOPPEN, 2015

Hardcover, First Edition 2015
23 x 28 cm, 168 Pages
ISBN 978-9-462620-31-5
HOMO VAPOR EST, 2003

HOMO VAPOR EST, 2003

Hardcover, 2003
25 x 33 cm, 135 Pages

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