JOHAN KLEINJAN (B. 1974)

Johan Kleinjan (b. 1974) works in a distinctive unpolished style with a special use of colour. His artworks are born out of his fascinations, which can consist of strange or sometimes everyday things. A few examples include: Formula 1, the participants of Temptation Island, victims of the Stalin’s Great Purge and the suspects in the Opsporing Verzocht television programme. In 1999, he spent six months studying as an exchange student at Tokyo Zokei University in Japan, where his fascination with Asian culture began. Because of the language barrier, Johan was often sent out by his teachers to draw what he encountered, where he soon began to capture everything he saw. Later, he worked in Kronstadt, Tokyo, Taipei, Beijing and Chongqing. In Beijing, he spent six months as an artist in residence at the Chinese Institute for Provocation, which collaborates with the Dutch Mondriaan Fund. Johan takes his pencils and sketchbook with him wherever he goes. He likes to draw people in their own environment, preferably without them being aware of it. In Beijing, he drew the Chinese populace at busy places such as restaurants. He was also fascinated by the big buildings in China. It was on the balconies that Johan discovered the diversity among the residents of the uniform residential towers. While one resident turned his balcony into a jungle, the other used it as a birdcage or a place to put air conditioning units. As this text is written, Johan is working on a new series of buildings from around the world. In addition to his individual work, Johan was part of the Antistrot collective, with which he carried out joint projects such as murals and exhibitions until 2010. Since 2010, Johan has been a member of the Kamp Horst collective.

The proceeds of the Artists in Residence project are donated to the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds. The Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds aims to encourage inspiration, purpose, and social interconnection for everyone in the Netherlands by investing in cultural projects together with its partners. The Cultuurfonds supports and helps realize projects of cultural organizations and artists by raising funds and handing out awards for outstanding work.