" They call him THE FATHER OF CONTEMPORARY DRAWING.
But who is this JACOB KLEYN ?
Probably some misterious artist , living incognito on the edge of society ?
"Un-aware"of the fact that the value of his Art have reached a 2 million euro each, and still lives in misery ? or...... "


YES WE CAN

Yes, we can make a better world , if we do it together ?

JACOB KLEYN : Oh, Yes we can.
For excample : Most of the time people feel the inner truth of my pictures and are deeply touched.
But sometimes some people ask me Why is your art this way
Why all this sad things, and not cheerful and colourful.
It's rather because I don't want to make just only nice looking paintings. I want to make real Art. Strong art with a huge impact
and achieved with direct and simple means.
I don't want to be superficial, I'm looking for the essence
behind all the things, with all my integrity.
Especially in the Art, because Art is my life.

And your Life is Art ?

Ah, You can see it more as raising a protest against awful situations in the world , where people still have to live
under miserable conditions and circumstances.
Hunger, War, - and even my concern for the Global environment etc.
Above all it is to remind us !
Also I have experienced all that suffering myself, and in my personal life too.
But in fact I'm a very hopeful and possitive thinking person,
and stays always optimistic. Yes, we can change.
I believe that we can change, we can change ourself, others,
and Yes, we can also change something towards a better world, a better life. And try to keep our moral integrity and honesty alive.
To start this new century, the 21st-century,
I want to contribute to it with my Art, and to make only sincere
art, try to keep yourself and the art pure and uncorrupted.
To stay as close as possible at/to your inner core and source.
and so on.

And what about your recent successes ?

Ah, that I have to use for doing well, for something good.
I myself still live a humble life , but ...

No, I mean your honouring. The honouring for your artistic oeuvre ?

Oh, that, that I can appreciate very much ofcourse.
It's very nice for an artist like me.
I have always tried to identify myself as close as possible
with my subjects. To have empathy for suffering humanity.
And to progress, to feel what the time need for changes and to look forwards to the future.
Also to the future of Art. -





- JACOB KLEYN is a phenomenon in Amsterdam art world. He refuses to play the mainstream rules and presents figurative art, talking openly about his values and beliefs. Kleyn's main and the most
well-known works are the monotypes, in which the artist tells about his sufferings and hopes with unusual sincerity.
Kleyn does not pretend to be strong and tough.
Instead he invites us to step inside his heart and see his pain,
feel his doubts, hear his tear-drops falling.
Although sad, his art is never depressive or desperate.
Kleyn prefers blues to hatred and hope to bitterness.
A passage trough the beautiful maze of his feelings enriches us with knowing another person,and ourselves, at the deepest of our inner world. -

- Olga Zhuravleva-





THE VISION OF JACOB KLEYN


When I met Jacob a couple of years ago, I saw a man
who was enormously curious and hungry for life's experiences; with
an exuberant enthusiasm he encountered obstacles and difficulties, embraced them with love and sharp criticism, and before you knew,
he had expressed these experiences overnight into delightful and sensitive artworks.
Collaborating during an artist-residency in the east of Holland, we had to overcome some difficulties with the studios:
leakages culminating in abundant mould overgrowth,
un-sufficient plumbing and heating systems, electricity black-outs
and an in-efficient organisation did not withheld Jacob from creating the most beautiful and dramatic artworks.
On the contrary, it inspired Jacob to produce some masterpieces.
Jacob is a true artist in his heart and in his mind.
The skills he performs in technique and treatment of the materials are unprecedented,
making the review of his work a visual discovery.
But moreover, his subject and content-management show a surprising
raw directness, uncovering deep emotions and psychological processes.
It appears that he is investigating the interaction between private
subjective values, social concerns and the individual emotional condition: the very existential aspects of human life.
His imagery channels these aspects into primal and archetypical
'iconography', touching the viewer's (un)conscientness awareness
of empathy and sensitivity.
Feelings of grief , joy, hope or helplessness, power and loss,
are all present in his work: visible in subtle lines or a seemingly
casual shadow.
Jacob Kleyn is not concerned with conventions or expression of decorative, superficial nature; his images are direct and raw,
going straight to the soul.
In this respect he represents Dutch Art at it's best:
non-conformist, anti-stereotyped and progressive.
A real artist 'avant la lettre'.



- Jeanet Snijders -













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