Johannes "Jan, Jr." Schoonhoven (NL, 1975) is a Dutch abstract artist based near Amsterdam. He creates paper-mâché reliefs using gypsum, pigment, and natural drying processes, exploring repetition, line, and light. Co-founder of the ZERO+ group, he continues his grandfather's legacy from the Dutch Nul movement.
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Blue square I -
Blue square II
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Blue square cut
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Blue wave
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Red circle
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Untitled
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White circle
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Untitled
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White wave
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Untitled
Johannes «Jan, Jr.» Schoonhoven (NL, 1975) is a Dutch contemporary visual and abstract artist, living and working in Amstelveen, close to Amsterdam.
His reliefs are made of paper-mâché mixed with gypsum and pigment. His work is based on lines, squares, light, shadow and repetition. The pre-pigmented paper-mâché is processed by hand and with painters knives, creating lines. After a drying process of several weeks, the paper-mâché is painted with acrylic paint and pigment. He develops his own colors using various intense pigments. gypsum powder for hardness and pigment powder as ground-color. The materials are edited by hand and with painters knives in fine line structures. The reliefs are manufactured in rest and silence and require patience in the drying process. It is nature that puts the finishing touch and chooses the final form. There are no identical reliefs because the artwork always dries in different forms.
From his early twenties he has been visiting the Franciscan fraternities and contemplative monasteries, where he gets a lot of inspiration. Schoonhoven also holds a degree in optician and has been making optical works since 2011. These works are made with optical glasses with a high minus strength, attached to both sides of the canvas with optical screws.
The artist co-founded the ZERO+ group, a reference to the Nul movement (the Dutch counterpart of the Zero movement) of which Schoonhoven’s grandfather was a part. ZERO+ shares a number of characteristics with the Zero movement, including the use of repetition, the emphasis on abstraction and the use of materials from the immediate environment.
Until the summer of 2021 he signed his work with Jan Schoonhoven Jr, as a tribute and also his nickname. He is the grandson of artist Jan Schoonhoven (1914-1994), regarded as one of the most important Dutch artists of the late twentieth century. Schoonhoven’s work has been widely published and has been auctioned by Sotheby’s and Christies. Forwart Gallery and Advisory acts as the artist’s global agent. In 2023 they have expositions planned in Antwerp (BE), Laren (NL), Paris (FR) and Závodný (CZ).