Jonathan Tegelaars, born in Florence in 1988, second of two brothers, father Dutch, mother French. He was schooled at the École Française de Florence and at the Machiavelli-Capponi. He then studied at the Libera Accademia delle Belle Arti di Firenze (Laba) where he followed the three-year Design course; he then took a further two years course studying painting and photography, without, however, getting his final diploma. He is currently based in Florence where he works in his studio located in Via dell'Ardiglione.
Modus Operandi
My work is prompted by the strong effect that images have on me. I mean images in the widest possible sense, to wit, the immense and total visual wealth of this world. I search for expression throughout the experimentation of various techniques. By changing one's approach and method, and then tools, and materials, it is possible to bring about different outcomes, and to design otherwise.
These multiple conceptions and idioms are necessary in the attempt to get closer to a truth that is less partial, a truth understood via various paths and expressed in a many-side way. My work is centred in the process of the formulation of images rather than in the final image. It is a complex process that starts from a nucleus of suggestions, of sources, which, through their interactions, produce or rather unveil new results. It is a concatenation of choices and actions, with elements in play being constantly questioned, in a circular process.
Any of my compositions is the result of a manual operation. Through the physical contact with materials I gain further and immediate knowledge of the object, and through this direct feedback I succeed in leaving the mark of my vitality.
I love to rephrase: whether playfully, or in oder to surprise, or so as to express what is not yet there.