“Archipelago” – oil bar on dibond – 179x126cm – private collection
Jeff Kowatch, born in California in 1965, moved to Belgium 20 years ago after working in New York for aboutten years. He developed a colourist painting marked by the great American abstracts, from Mark Rothko to Brice Marden and, for the technique, by the great Flemish painters, Rembrandtin particular, whose recipes for linseed oil he has reclaimed, which give his painting a particular effect of depth and transparency, typical of the northern glazes. In these oil-stick drawings on Dibond, it is energy that takes precedence over meditation, served by extraordinarily living matter.
The abstract paintings by Jeff Kowatch resonate with energy and do not resemble any others. The artist works with oil paint on linen, and applies the intensive physical technique of layering and scraping. He plays delicately with colours and blurriness, taking the viewer into the unknown. Jeff completed a series of works inspired by Homer’s Iliad, the story of Don Quixote and Melville’s novel Moby Dick. The combination of the three led him to the collection of his very own “ Belgian Odyssey”.
WORKS IN PUBLIC COLLECTIONS:
Musée royal des Beaux Arts, Brussels, BE
Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, CA
Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, CA
Union Theological Seminary, New York, USA
Exhibition view – “Against The Current” Absolute Art Gallery Knokke, 2020
Exhibition view – “Against The Current” Absolute Art Gallery Knokke, 2020
“Barbados Surprise” – oil bar on dibond – 150x180cm – private collection
“Montgolfière” – oil bar on dibond – 150x180cm – private collection
Exhibitions
2024
BRAFA art Fair, Brussels, BE
2023
Art Antwerp, Art Fair, Antwerp, BE
Art Brussels, Art Fair, Brussels, BE
Art Antwerp, Art Fair, BE
Summer and autumn show, Absolute Art Gallery, Knokke, BE
2022
Art Brussels, Art Fair, Brussels, BE
“Breath”, La Forest Divonne, Paris, FR
Expo Chicago, Art Fair, Chicago, USA
Art Paris, Art Fair, Paris, FR
2021
“Man Jok”, Gallery Faider & La Forest Divonne, Brussels, BE
2020
“Against The Current” solo show, Absolute Art Gallery, Knokke, BE
2019
Absolute Art Gallery, Knokke, BE
Expo Chicago, Art Fair, US
2018
Galerie Faider, Brussels, BE
“Full Circle”, solo show, Galerie La Forest Divonne, Brussels, BE
2017
Rotterdam Contemporary Art Fair with Absolute Art Gallery, Rotterdam, NL
“Connected Stories” Groupshow Absolute Art Gallery Knokke, BE
2016
‘Circus’ galerie de la forest Divonne, Paris, FR
Galeriej Negenpuntnegen, Roeselare, BE
‘Apocalyptic Carnival’ galerie Faider, Brussel, BE
2015
‘The Belgium Odyssey Paintings’ Absolute Art Gallery, BE
2014
Raw Art Fair with Absolute Art Gallery, Rotterdam, NL
«7en14», Galerie Vieille du Temple, Paris, FR
«The Belgium Odyssey Paintings» , Galerie Faider, Brussels, BE
«The Belgium Odyssey Paintings» , NegenPuntNegen Gallery, Roeselare, BE
2013
PAN Amsterdam, NL
Off Art Fair, Tour & Taxis Brussel, BE
Absolute Art Gallery, Knokke, BE
Lille Art Fair, FR
RAW Art Fair, Rotterdam, NL
“And out of Chaos Came Color”, Galerie Vieille du Temple, Paris
2012
Art Paris, Galerie Vieille du Temple, Paris, FR
“L’Art pour l’Accueil”, Galerie Pierre Bergé & Associés, BE
2011
“Don Quixote in Vlaanderen”, NegenPuntNegen Gallery, Roeselare, BE
“Works on paper”, Art on Paper, The White Hotel, Brussels, BE
“Don Quixote in Amsterdam”, Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ, Amsterdam, NL
2009
Art Paris, Galerie Vieille du Temple, Paris, FR
“Stratus Mountainous Cumulus”, NegenPuntNegen Gallery, Roeselare, BE
H.U.B. at the US State Department of Brussels, BE
2006
“Stratus Mountainous Cumulus”, Earl McGrath Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
2004
“Untitled”, Earl McGrath Gallery, New York, USA
2003
“Thou Shalt”, Jeff Bailey Gallery, New York, USA
“Salome Series”, Earl McGrath Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
2001
“Salome Series”, Earl McGrath Gallery, New York, USA
“Works on paper from the Salomé series”, Paul Sharpe Fine Art, New York, USA
1998
“BVM Series”, Earl McGrath Gallery, New York, USA
1997
“Apostles”, Union Theological Seminary, New York, USA
