Jonathan Naas

— DOOM VISUAL ARTIST & ETHNO-FOLK HUNTER, BORN IN 1987 IN EASTERN FRANCE ;
RESIDES AND WORKS BETWEEN BASEL (CH) AND STRASBOURG (FR)

Jonathan Naas' contextual work is based on the recovery of elements from reality, staged in dark and minimalist installations. His works question symbols and their codes, as well as beliefs and the transmission of knowledge through a ritual protocol influenced by folklore, mythology, esotericism, and underground culture. His practice is predominantly dominated by radical painting and volumes from his daily life, imbued with magic and the invisible. He presents, like an intermediary, rhythmic devices that reformulate reality through fiction, like a story, accentuating a present while suggesting the possibility of elsewhere.

Le travail contextuel de Jonathan Naas s’appuie sur la récupération d’éléments du réel, mis en scène dans des installations sombres et minimalistes. Ses œuvres questionnent les symboles et leurs codes, ainsi que les croyances et la transmission des savoirs par un protocole rituel, influencé par le folklorisme, la mythologie, l’ésotérisme et la culture underground. Sa pratique est majoritairement dominée par une peinture radicale et des volumes issus de son quotidien, empreints de magie et d’invisible. Il présente, à la façon d’un intercesseur, des dispositifs rythmés reformulant la réalité au travers de la fiction, tel un conte, accentuant un présent tout en suggérant la possibilité d’un ailleurs.

CURRENT AND UPCOMING

MERDRE ! FEB > MAR 2023
Group Show at Videochroniques, Marseille

KIGO MAR > APR 2023
Group Show with Le Tube at Syndicat Potentiel, Strasbourg

RESIDENCY ART & TERRITOIRE UNTIL SPRING 2023
Syndicat Potentiel, Bruche Valley (Alsatian Vosges)

BLITZ UNTIL WINTER 2024
Retrospective exhibition, L.A.C. Galerie 107, Ferrette

TO BE CONFIRMED CURRENT 2023/2024
Exhibition at Cardi Gallery (London & Milano)
Resarch residency on the Berbers at Carthage
Dortmund (Tapir Gallery)
Transylvania (Lazarea)
Cambdia (Phnom Penh)
Boscastle (Museum of Witchcraft and Magic)

EDUCATION

MASTER OF VISUAL ART 2010 → 2012
EUROPEAN ART ENSEMBLE (with honors)
ÉCAL, University of Art and Design from Lausanne

BACHELOR OF VISUAL ART 2009 → 2010 (visarte prize)
ÉCAL, University of Art and Design from Lausanne

DNAP ART 2006 → 2009
DIPLÔME NATIONAL D’ART PLASTIQUE
HEAR, Rhine University of Arts from Mulhouse

SELECTED RESIDENCIES, PRIZES, AND RESEARCH TRIPS

SPRING 2023 BRUCHE VALLEY RESEARCH RESIDENCY
Art Territoire, on a proposal from Syndicat Potentiel ; Strasbourg

FALL 2019 QUEBEC RESIDENCY
Langage Plus Art Center ; Alma, Canada (in partnership with FRAC Alsace, SAGAMI and CEAAC)

WINTER 2016 BUDAPEST RESIDENCY
Budapest Galéria ; Budapest, Hungary (in partnership with CEAAC, Strasbourg)
—

Alma-Quebec, London-Ontario (Canada) ; Vilnius (Lithuania) ; Budapesy (Huguary) ; New-York, Philadelphia (U.S.A.) ; Berlin, Hanover (Germany) ; Zürich, Geneva, Lausanne (Switzerland) ; Bruxelles, Namur (Belgium) ; Alsace, Vosges, Moselle, Limousin, Champagne, Allier, French Rivera (France).

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

SUPERSTITION SUPERVISION MARCH 2020
CEAAC w/ FRAC Alsace ; Strasbourg, France

INVINCIBLE INVISIBLE NOVEMBER 2019
Langage Plus w/ SAGAMIE ; Alma, Quebec/Canada

BASTARD GEORGES NOVEMBER 2016
Telep Gallery ; Budapest, Hungary
—

CEAAC (Strasbourg, France), Langage Plus (Alma, Québec), Mulhouse (France), Telep Gallery (Budapest, Hungary), Zwanzigquadratmeter Gallery (Berlin, Germany), Niele Torini Gallery (Lausanne, Swiss).

PUBLIC INSTALLATION & COLLECTION

PUBLIC COLLECTION
International Hungarian Collection, Budapest Galléria, Hungary. Électropolis, EDF Museum, Mulhouse.

PUBLIC SPACE
Municipalities of Jouac, Illtal and Heidwiller, city of Altkirch.

PRIVATE COLLECTIONS
Canada, Switzerland, Belgium and France.

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

Syndicat Potentiel, Strasbourg / Maison Vide, Reims / Kunst Raum Riehen, Regionale 21 / La Filature, Mulhouse / Center of Gravity at Soapworks, Bristol / Sunaparanta Center for the Arts, Goa / CEAAC, Strasbourg / Langage Plus, Alma (CA) / Fernet Branca Museum, Saint-Louis / STUWA / Biennale du Sentier des Passeurs / CAC Passage, Troyes / Aedean Gallery, Strasbourg / L’Art et la Matière / Binz39 Fondation, Zürich / Vexer Verlag, Berlin / Le Séchoir, Mulhouse / Galerie Valérie Delauney, Paris / ZIP Gallery, Basel / Saint-Valentin Art Space, Lausanne / Studio Fleury, Geneva / ELAC Gallery, Lausanne /Manoir de Martigny / FHNW Academy of Art and Design, Basel / Espace Arlaud, Lausanne / La Semancerie, Strasbourg / Parc Floral, Paris / CRAC Alsace / Banca Monte Paschi Belgio, Brussels / Le CentQuatre, Paris / European Poetry Center, Avignon / Stella Solaris, Brussels / Culturel Center, Toulon (La Garde) / Fine Arts Museum, Mulhouse / Polaris Gallery, Paris / Pompidou Center, Paris / Fête de l’Eau, Wattwiller / etc.