Folkert de Jong

Gallery Christophe Gaillard Brussels is proud to announce the first exhibition in its space of Folkert de Jong, since the start of our collaboration in the beggining of 2026.

De Jong is known for his use of industrial materials. In doing so, he undermines traditional ideas about sustainability, power, and historical significance. His characters seem to come from different times and worlds, yet they share the same question: how does the past influence our actions in the present?

What remains of an era when stories fade and beliefs shift? In Old DNA, Folkert de Jong explores the traces the past leaves behind in the present. Not as a fixed history, but as a living legacy that continues to mingle with new ideas, images, and identities.

On the one hand, the title refers to an old genetic memory: a collection of remnants, memories, and cultural codes passed down through generations. In De Jong’s work, these invisible layers acquire a physical presence. His sculptures and installations populate the space like figures from a collective memory simultaneously recognizable and alienating, monumental and vulnerable. On the other hand, the title could also refer to the paradox of progress; the desire to alter and correct errors in the programming of DNA from the past, resulting in failure, decline and degeneration.

Old DNA brings together works in which history is not presented as a closed chapter, but as a force that continues to operate. The exhibition invites visitors to reflect on the stories we inherit, the roles we play, and the future we shape from that past. Between memory and imagination, between decay and renewal, a world unfolds in which old beliefs of our culture become visible sometimes confronting, sometimes absurd, but always human.

Folkert de Jong gained recognition for his life-size sculptural groups made of Styrofoam and polyurethane foam, used as insulation in construction, architecture, and set design for the Hollywood film industry. With this atypical material for art, derived from the petrochemical industry, De Jong creates remarkably complex tableaus of grotesque worlds that depict power, violence, disaster, and other disturbing aspects of the human condition. Intrigued by the depths of the human soul, the artist draws the viewer into this world where the bizarre and the vulnerable converge.

His work often evokes art historical associations alongside contemporary political issues and current concerns, with a sense of a post-apocalyptic future. Over the years, Folkert de Jong’s sculptures have become more technically virtuosic and painterly. His sculptural groups seem to emerge effortlessly from the material. The first sculptures appear rough and unfinished. They are usually monochrome blue and pink, the colors of the Styrofoam material itself. Later, De Jong introduced a richer color palette into his works and cleverly combined figuration, abstraction, and symbols. The figures are often life-size, giving the viewer the opportunity to relate to the sculptures and feel like they are witnessing the compelling, often ominous scenes.

Folkert de Jong was born in Alkmaar in 1972 and grew up in Egmond aan Zee, on the North Sea coast. After high school, he began studying nursing in Alkmaar at the age of 18. After abandoning his nursing studies, he moved to Amsterdam in 1992 to study crafts and art history in a teacher training program, graduating in 1996. He was largely self-taught as an artist and applied in 1998 to the Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten in Amsterdam, from which he graduated at the end of 1999.

After that, he participated in several international artist residencies, including the International Studio & Curatorial Program (ISCP) in New York City from 2004 to 2005. From that point on, and continuing to this day, De Jong has further developed his international artistic career, collaborating with galleries worldwide. He lives and works in Amsterdam.

12 septembre, 16h