About

Jeroen Cremers (b. 1972, Reuver, the Netherlands) builds a private mythology out of the wreckage of the present: rabbits, owls, an oversized flower, a hand raised in warning. His materials are found on the street: discarded cardboard boxes, packaging, and the styrofoam that once protected consumer goods. He cuts, layers and joins them by hand until styrofoam and cardboard flow seamlessly into one another, sealing the surface with Acrystal and leaving every seam, patch, and repair visible. The results are objects that look excavated rather than made. Alongside these sculptures he works in ceramics, painting, collage and installation.

His work reflects the alienation between the social and natural worlds, exploring the ambiguity of an object’s meaning and leaving room for multiple readings. It touches on the human condition, the relationship between man and nature, and the way modern society shapes our perception of reality.

Cremers graduated from the Academy for Visual Art in Maastricht, specialising in ceramics, and went on to live and work in Aberdeen, Amsterdam and Berlin before moving with his family to Grasse in 2023. In Berlin he began working under the pseudonym Jerry Kowalsky and became known for his large cardboard sculptures of human body parts, built from connected fragments. Each new place has fed his practice and his commitment to the independent art scene: since 2017 he has been part of the curatorial team of the Berlin art platform BcmA (Berlin con mucho Arte), alongside Ricardo de Larrea, Wolfgang Flad and Jay Gard, and in Grasse he co-founded LARC (Lieu d’arts et de recherches contemporains) within Association Facteur de Ciel, which organises exhibitions and connects international artists.

In 2019 his work was featured in 100 Sculptures of Tomorrow, edited by Kurt Beers and Richard Cork (Thames & Hudson). He has exhibited internationally, including at the Youngeun Hall of the Contemporary Art Museum in Seoul (2014), Atelier Néerlandais in Paris (2015), the Benetton Foundation in Treviso (2017), the CODA Museum in Apeldoorn (2019), Museum Schloss Hellenstein in Heidenheim (2023) and the Kunstmuseum Albstadt (2024). His work is held in private and public collections and has been supported by the Mondrian Fund, the Senate Department for Culture of Berlin and the Stiftung Kunstfonds, among others. He lives and works in Grasse and Berlin.

See the full CV and exhibitions, browse exhibition views and sculptures, read the curator texts, or get in touch about a work.