Joren Josua's illustrations present on a regular basis life with humor and humor
Joren Josua's bold graphic style combines his training as an illustrator at art school with a preference for graffiti and vintage posters. Since graduating from the AKV St. Joost in Breda in 2012, he has taken a successful path that bridges the gap between commercial illustration and graphics. His drawings, children's book illustrations and murals are characterized by both playful quality and complexity, which stimulate a deeper investigation. During the global blockade by the Covid 19 pandemic, Joren continued to hold on to the zeitgeist with his reflections on contemporary life.
Joren works in a studio in the “Wild West of Rotterdam”. The forced isolation during the closure did not hinder his creative performance and his daily bike ride through an abandoned city to his studio gave him a "zen feeling" that supported his creativity. He worked on pandemic-related editorial assignments and worked on “corona editorials” for two newspapers that were customers before the blockade – de Volkskrant in the Netherlands and DeMorgen in Belgium.
Above: illustration for DeMorgen; Above: Shopping during the corona virus
Corona Sex, created for DeMorgen
Illustration for de Volkskrant
Illustration for de Volkskrant
The resulting artwork is edgy and up-to-date, and boldly depicts some aspects of life under lock and key, including an image showing how to have hygienic lock sex, a woman singing from her balcony in the spirit of the Italian community during quarantine, and one Man working from home with Covid 19 symptoms. Joren's lockdown art is thoroughly contemporary, but with a touch of the bold graphic aesthetics of the posters of the Russian revolution of the 30s and 40s, mixed with the absurdism and spontaneity of the Dadaists in Europe after the First World War.
Joren was born and grew up in a village in the southern Netherlands. He describes himself as an imaginative child who was interested in Lego and loved drawing so much that he even spoke to the newspaper. In secondary school, he felt he had lost the magic of drawing and later returned when the family moved to the city of Breda, where his discovery of graffiti rekindled the love of drawing and the desire for playfulness in his art .
Although he graduated only eight years ago, Joren already has an impressive portfolio of work for clients, including: Coca-Cola, Feyenoord, Volkskrant, Trouw, DeMorgen, Mascotte, WWD Weekly, Correspondent, Uitgeverij Leopold, Uitgeverij Noordhoff, Effenaar, TU / Eindhoven and CBK Rotterdam.
Cover and spreads from the children's book Zeb
His illustrations for the children's book Zeb, on which he worked with the writer Gideon Samson, brought the duo a Golden Griffel Award for the best children's book and a Silver Brush Award for illustration at the annual children's book awards in the Netherlands. The book consists of 11 short stories, all of which contain an absurd element that fits perfectly with Joren's bizarre and often surreal style.
Joren quotes graphic artists such as Uderzo, Blexbolex, Joost Swarte, Aryz, Stefan Glerum, Jacob Lawrence and Hedof of his influences. These historical influences are combined with Joren's love of street art and graffiti, combined with a hint of photo-realism and a swarm of Van Gogh's paintings and childhood mythology that the young Joren copied to improve his art of drawing. Joren's huge murals in Spain and Breda also have a dolce vita atmosphere reminiscent of the legendary Italian vintage car posters of the 50s and 60s.
Joren's pictures are clearly the result of careful observation of real life. "I find it interesting to be inspired by things other than pictures," he says. "I often watch people unconsciously. I keep an eye on movements and postures. Someone who is drunk, people in a conversation, a child falls, someone in a hurry. My work focuses very much on movement and posture. I hardly use any image references, but use my memory optimally.
Mural in Oviedo, Spain
Mural in Breda
Illustration created for DeMorgen
"I always draw things with the idea that they should work great," he continues. “This makes my work more graphic and I leave out unnecessary details. I like eye-catchers, works that draw your attention from afar. I also use this vision for illustrations that are not really big, such as a newspaper or the children's book, for example. Admittedly, since I am now also doing a lot of editorial illustrations, further details have returned. In the case of murals, the goal is slightly different. Aside from the story you tell, you also do something in public space and have to deal with the environment. The decorative purpose is often greater than that of a newspaper, where history or communication is often the most important thing. "
Joren is confident of separating commercial and personal work. At the beginning of his career, he felt that customers came to him for a "piece of soul", but he realized that adapting his work or style to the customer was not the answer and that his most successful orders were the ones he injected with his own authentic sense of self and personality.
His plans for the future include the continuation of the regular editorials for newspapers and the prospect of another children's book for illustration, as well as a larger-format painting. Whatever Joren turns his hand to the next one will undoubtedly have the strength to fascinate and arouse the imagination.
jorenjoshua.com