Jacqueline de Jong - La Petite Mort
Before seeing this show I was unfamiliar with Jacqueline de Jong (b. 1939, Hengelo, The Netherlands). A quick bit of research reveals an overabundance of the phrase ‘avant-grade’ to describe her work, and the best the gallery can do is say she has a “distinct and idiosyncratic style”. Neither accurately describes the visual assault of her paintings. For the uninitiated, the first two words you’re likely to utter upon seeing a Jacqueline de Jong canvas are “What the…?”
de Jong recently passed away at the age of 85 and like many artists she was active right up until her death. Reviewing four large works she made in her last two years, the best way I can describe them is they look like a courtroom sketch artist with Parkinson’s was asked to document a debauched Muppet Show after-party. Vibrantly coloured pigs, frogs and bears are intertwined with naked human bodies so tightly contorted and compressed together that it’s unclear if you’re witnessing intimacy or atrocity.
Swarms of fish and platters of people are recurring motifs. A double headed Darth Vader appears to pet a purring cat. I can’t decide if any of the faces are smiling or screaming or even aware of each other. A total lack of traditional perspective or compositional framing creates a visual chaos and confusion of focus. Am I viewing one scene or many? Is each canvas a nightmare? Maybe they’re many nightmares, a static collage representing a week’s worth of restless sleep. No one and nothing looks normal and I don’t really know or want to know what’s actually happening. As with many uncomfortable topics it would be easier to just look away. These scenes are disturbing not because of any one weird aspect but from their indecipherable totality.
I find the four smaller “rarely seen” works from the 60s much less repulsive thanks to a more cartoony style. These feature humans with exaggerated hippo heads and huge marshmallow teeth. They wear stylish flared jeans and colourful clothes. Three paintings could be of a liberal protest in a park. Nope. The gallery says they reference a road accident witnessed by the artist. The fourth work appears to involve a bloody body mutilation that may or may not be self harm.
Brutality. Human cruelty. War. These are themes the gallery says de Jong has explored throughout her career. Would I have surmised that on my own without reading the press release? Probably, though maybe not in those exact terms, although I certainly felt it through my own emotional response to the work. Much like Picasso’s Guernica (1937), de Jong isn’t trying to visually depict a specific event but the complex human trauma that results from something horrific.
Grotesque faces. Gaping, screaming mouths. Twisted bodies and chaotic scenes. These scenes manifest the fear and confusion I feel inside when I watch the news and hear about yet another shocking, incomprehensible world event. Or even worse, experience my own. With some artists I am eagerly drawn back to their work again and again. Having been introduced to Jacqueline de Jong I’m curious to study her more, but nervous and wary of what I might relate to.
Plan your visit
‘La Petit Mort’ ran from 31 May - 16 Aug 2024
Visit houldsworth.co.uk and follow @pippyhouldsworthgallery on Instagram for more info about the venue.
Visit jacquelinedejong.com and the Wikipedia page for more info about the artist.
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