The Rotterdam-based artist Jelmer Konjo is a graduate of the Willem de Kooning Academy in the field of Fine Arts. He explores and observes how we deal with the norm of ‘adulthood’ in our daily lives and what it means for us. An important principle in his work is the open way of seeing, investigating, and making mistakes during our childhood. This way of seeing and learning can change or even disappear as we grow older. We end up in a routine where everything must be functional and yield results.
Jelmer sees his work as a playful and layered way to break out of this routine and make us aware of the value of playfulness and imagination in our lives. This results, for example, in the exploration of the function and form of playground equipment, where Konjo plays with risks and visual language, investigating how altering the context affects the experience of the work. He views his method of working as a big game in which making mistakes, starting over, and working with unconventional materials are essential parts of his creative process.
“SPINNERS” is a series of quirky round works, sprayed with bright colors that, as the name suggests, can spin. The viewer is invited to touch and spin the artworks, becoming part of the piece. The spinning time is short, so it’s only a temporary action/reaction, playing with the traditional white cube gallery setting where viewers only observe art.
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