Taking a thoroughly irreverent stance, Jonathan Monk takes on many issues central to artistic practice and the art world around us, such as originality, authorship and the role of the artist. Using aesthetic elements and conceptual principles most frequently associated with the classical era of conceptual art—the beginning of the 1960s through the late 1970s—Jonathan Monk’s works often directly take on the artists who have come before him, his contemporary peers and occasionally also himself. This unambiguous way of dealing with the subject matter gives way to an exploration of the ideas around what it is to be an artist and furthermore, what constitutes a work of art.
With bold colours, unexpected objects and materials, as well as a touch of dark humour, Jonathan Monk invites us to challenge notions of perception, meaning and context in his work, playfully leaving us clues along the way.
Jonathan Monk (b. 1969, UK) has had many critically acclaimed solo exhibitions around the world, including exhibitions at Palais de Tokyo (Paris) in connection with Musee d’art Moderne de la Ville de Paris (Paris), ICA (London), IMMA Irish Museum of Modern Art (Dublin), Haus am Waldsee (Berlin), Museum Kunst Palast (Dusseldorf), and Grazer Kunstverein (Graz). In 2009, Monk was invited to participate in the Venice Biennale by the Nordic and Danish Pavilion. Jonathan Monk’s works can be found in the collections of LACMA Los Angeles County Museum of Art (Los Angeles), MoMA (New York), Moderna Museet (Stockholm), Tate Modern (London), the National Gallery of Denmark (Copenhagen), Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (New York), MMK (Frankfurt), Kadist Art Foundation (Paris), Museo D’Arte Contemporanea Roma (Roma), FRAC des Pays de la Loire (Nantes), Art Gallery of Ontario (Toronto) and Museo Tamayo (Mexico City) among many others. In 2019 Monk opened a solo exhibition at KINDL Centre for Contemporary Art (Berlin).
