About

Ronald Cornelissen

Born: 1960
Education: Academy St. Joost, Breda
Lives and works in Rotterdam

Ronald Cornelissen is represented by Gallery Bernard Jordan (Paris/Zurich)

Ronald Cornelissen’s bittersweet drawings portray a world-conquering society, a subject he explores to the point of exhaustion. A virile modernity, out of breath and sometimes ridiculous, sustained by men at the wheels of their cars, men who are absent, vain and comical, oblivious to the spaces they have allowed to proliferate before abandoning them. These spaces that the artist draws are populated with childish and body-built passers-by, birds of prey, legendary whales and abandoned cranes.

Ronald Cornelissen’s work has a strong critical dimension. And yet this critical aspect is overshadowed by the emotional dimension that the artist imparts upon it. There is a sentimentality in his work. A sentimentality that is undoubtedly disappointed and marred by defunct clichés—male, urban and positivist mythologies. But it is a lively, punk-filled sentimentality fuelled by laughter.

This tragicomic relationship between humanity and the world that surrounds it is based on a certain musical approach where the influences of a pop culture made of collages and sampling can be seen. Ronald Cornelissen explores its physicality as if it were a mental space. He draws from it the narrative force that gives his drawings their strength. They are never totally closed in on themselves. The air and the rain that circulate in the drawings suggest an outside. The image continues, driven not only by the imagination, but also by our habits. The work is nourished by all sorts of stories and tales that have been passed down from generation to generation.

As such, the production of these drawings is like the progression of a saga that has abandoned the idea of teleology. The story moves through time like a soap opera, with each drawing displaying its own ramblings. In the same way, the line navigates between precision and surrender, ease and failure, like a pinball at a coconut shy.

Text by Benoît Blanchard

CV

Solo/duo Exhibitions

2023

  • NORIT, walgenbach art & books, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

2022

  • Book presentation HÖLL at Stichting C.o.C.A. during Art Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. With Simon Davies.

2021

  • Funny Farm, Galerie Bernard Jordan, Paris, France.

2019

  • Frosty’s Lament, Galerie Bernard Jordan, Paris, France.

2017

  • Waiting for Bardot, The American Gallery, Marseille, France. With Paul van der Eerden.

2016

  • Back In Business, Gallery Bernard Jordan and Atelier Wolfensberger, Zurich, Switzerland.
  • Hoogvliet Mon Amour, Gallery Bernard Jordan, Paris, France. With Paul van der Eerden.

2015

  • Ground/Grond, at Drawing Centre Diepenheim with Paul van der Eerden.
  • Malice the Goon & Practice the Goon in pop goes the easel at Intersections/ Art Rotterdam.

2013

  • Pictura Dordrecht, The Netherlands. With Paul van den Hout.
  • Presentation of Boys R Us at Walgenbach Art and Books, Rotterdam.

2012

  • Solarium for Jim Henson, at Test Site of the International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam. Commisioned by Sculpture International Rotterdam.
  • Boy’s R Us, solo from stand from Canson at Slick Art fair Brussels, Belgium.

2011

  • Solo presentation for Prix Canson at Slick Art Fair, Palais de Tokyo, Paris.

2010

  • The Good Book, Centre For The Visual Arts, Rotterdam.
  • The Horesemen’s Kitchenette (When Demons Cook), Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam.
  • Running on Empty, Diana Stigter Gallery, Amsterdam (with Iris van Dongen).
  • ROHR, Gallery Bernard Jordan Zurich (Drawing Room), Zurich, Swiss.
  • Absolved From Mankind, K13, Velp, The Netherlands. With Wouter Vennema.

2009

  • SHOOT!, Maison d’Art Contemporain Chailloux, Fresnes, France. With Paul van der Eerden.

2008

  • Blow, Instituto Buena Bista, Curacao, Netherlands Antilles.

2006

  • Recent Drawings, De Hallen, Haarlem.
  • k2sarcophagidae2k, Museum Van Nagsael, Rotterdam.

2004

  • Sam’s Bedroom, XX Multiple Gallery, Rotterdam.

2003

  • Galerie de l’École Supérieure des Beaux Arts de Marseille, Marseille, France.

2001

  • Alien Love Calls, W139, Amsterdam, installation with Arnold Mosselman.

2000

  • Brown Star, Black Cross, God Mountain, Artis, ‘s-Hertogenbosch. With Ben Schot.

1998

  • CBK/Villa Alckmaer, Rotterdam.
  • Zen Arcade, Rotterdam City Theatre, Rotterdam.

1997

  • Snoei Gallery, Rotterdam.

1996

  • Bijenkorfproject, Manifesta 1, Rotterdam.

1993

  • Automatons, Centrum Beeldende Kunst, Rotterdam.

Group Exhibitions

2024

  • The Approximate World, Albert van Abbehuis, Eindhoven, The Netherlands. With Ad van Campenhout, Martin & Inge Riebeek, Annemarie van Sprang and Ronald Cornelissen.

2023

  • Trace l’inégal palindrome, ne mord ni la plage ni l’écart, Galerie Bernard Jordan, Paris, France. With Louise Aleksiejew, Lucille Ulrich and Olivier Passieux.

2022

  • Trouble wandering (to eternity), buitenplaats Kasteel Wijlre estate, Wijlre, The Netherlands. Participating artists: Maud van den Beuken, Jean-Marc Bustamante, Elspeth Diederix, Mimi Lauter, Tala Madani, Otobong Nkanga, Rory Pilgrim, Joëlle Tuerlinckx and Carel Visser.
  • Occupy #3 – Networks, Consulates General of Greece and France in New York. New York, USA. With a.o. Eozen Agopian, Yuna Amand, Jean-Baptiste Bernadet, Aristides Logothetis, Natalia Lopez, Bill Pangburn and Vincent Parisot.
  • Een Ver Afgelegen Huis, De Vishal, Haarlem, The Netherlands. With Frank Mandersloot, Luuk Wilmering, Wim Bosch and Elise ‘t Hart.

2019

  • Maaskanttekeningen in the Hilton Hotel, Hilton Hotel, Rotterdam.
  • 30 years of Dutch Courage, Cokkie Snoei Gallery, Rotterdam with a.o. William  Norbert Bisky, Olaf Breuning, Larry Clark, Pam Emmerik, Jason Fox, Frans Franciscus, Frohawk Two Feathers, Christian Holstad, Pieter Hugo, Erik van Lieshout, Keetje Mans, Boris Michailov, Pierre Molinier, Timothy Phillips, Marisa Rappard, Lily van der Stokker, Ari Versluis, Eveline Visser and Pierre Zucca.
  • Drawing Now Paris, Carreau du Temple, Paris, France.
  • Drawing Biennial 2019, Drawing Room, London, UK.

2018

  • Maaskant getekend, Kunsthal, Rotterdam.
  • Drawing Now Paris, Carreau du Temple, Paris, France.
  • Papel Papel III, Gallery Bernard Jordan, Paris, France.
  • Papel Papel II, Gallery Jordan/Seydoux  Drawings and Prints, Berlin, Germany.

2017

  • Monitor Fest, Heraklion, Crete, Greece.
  • Route du Nord, Vijverhofstraat 25, Rotterdam.
  • Papel Papel I, Gallery Bernard Jordan, Paris, France.
  • Drawing Now Paris, Artist in focus at Gallery Bernard Jordan, Paris, France.
  • Drawing Biennial 2017, Drawing Room, London, UK.

2016

  • Drawing Front, Quartair, The Hague with a.o. Femke Bakker, Justin Bennett, Channa Boon,  Paul van der Eerden, Melissa Cruz Garcia, Johan   Gustavsson, Rens Krikhaar, Jorn van Leeuwen, Erik-Jan Ligtvoet, Marjolijn van der Meij and Johan van Oord.
  • Amsterdam Drawing, Gallery Bernard Jordan met o.a. Paul van der Eerden, Henri Jacobs en Elmar Trenkwalder.
  •  Monster Drawings at UFO Factory, Detroit, USA.

2015

  • Amsterdam Drawing with Gallery Bernard Jordan. Also with Paul van der Eerden, Henri Jacobs, Alex Leger and Elmar Trenkwalder.
  • Tomorrow Never Knows at Arti et Amicitae, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Art collector Alexander Ramselaar presents my installation O.Giro Down complemented with works from his collection. With: Beat Streuli , Philip van Wolputte, Edward Burtynsky, Daniel Gustav Cramer, Lara Almarcegui, Remco Torenbosch, Anya Gallaccio and Dolores Marat.
  • Artists, Art, Guides and Visitors – Animal Farm, XX Multiple gallery, Rotterdam. The exhibition was curated by me in collaboration with Piet de Jonge. With: Atelier van Lieshout, Hein Dingemans, Erik van Lieshout, Hermann Nitsch, The Sun City Girls, Ossip van Duivenbode and Ronald Cornelissen.

2014

  • Panda Sex, State of Concept, Athens, Greece. With Andreas Angelidakis, Keith Farquhar, Brian Griffiths, Sophie Jung, Scott King, Natalia LL, Philomene Pirecki, Mary Ramsden, Adam Thirlwell and Alexander Tovborg. Curated by Tom Morton.
  • (In)visible force, a selection from the collection of Alexander Ramselaar at IK Foundation, Oost Souburg, Zeeland, with James Beckett, Gwenneth Boelens, Giorgio Andreotta Calò, Daniel Gustav Cramer, Anya Gallaccio, Diango Hernández and Jean-Marc Spaans.
  • Forcefield, A.VE.NU.DE.JET.TE – Institut de carton, Brussels Belgium, with amongst others Emma Kunz, Francis Newton Souza, Jos de Gruyter & Harold Thys, Jean Raine, Ina van Zyl, Mark Manders, Vaclav Pozarek, Marc Nagtzaam and Saadi Souami. .

2013

  • Kaleidoscoop, De Korenbeurs Schiedam, with David Bade, Midas Zwaan, Toine Klaassen, Arjen van Krieken and Harry Schumacher.
  • The City, the Artists and the Museum, 25 years Rotterdam City Collection. Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam.

2012

  • The Traveller, TENT, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. With Lara Almarcegui, Tjebbe Beekman, Rossella Biscotti, Daniel Gustav Cramer, Ed van der Elsken, Ron van der Ende, Anya Gallaccio, Diango Hernandez, Pieter Hugo, Wendelien van Oldenborgh, Pim Palsgraaf, Frank van der Salm, Noe Sendas, Esther Tielemans and Guy Tillim.
  • Maskerade, De Hallen, Haarlem, The Netherlands.
  • The New Contemporary (Viennafair) , with Galerie Bernard Jordan, Messe Wien, Vienna, Austria.
  • Space Invaders, Gallery With Tsjalling, Groningen. With Paul van der Eerden and Marianne Theunissen. Curated by Marriëtte Linders.
  • Contemporary surreal drawings from Rotterdam, Collection Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Institute Neerlandais, Paris, France. Curated by Sjarel Ex with amongst others Oscar de las Flores (Mexico), Charles Avery (England), Krijn de Koning (Holland), Charlie Roberts (USA), Elmar Trenkwalder (Austria), Paul van der Eerden (Holland), ManfreDuSchu (Austria), Paul Noble (England), Trenton Doyle Hancock (England), Chris Hipkiss (England), Kinke Kooi (Holland), en Jason Fox (USA).

2011

  • Pearls of the North, Palais d’Iena, Paris, France.
  • Gallery Bernard Jordan at Slick Art Fair, Paris, France.
  • Paysage Mental, le dessin sans dessein, Musée Eugène Leroy, Tourcoing, France. With amongst others: Eugène Leroy, Victor Hugo, Elmar Trenkwalder, Aji V.N and Roel D’Haese.
  • Prix Canson, Hotel de Sauroy, Paris, France.
  • Veldwerkers, Het Gemaal op Zuid, Rotterdam (with Agnes Roothaan and Marga Weimans)

2010

  • In The Backyard Of Kings, KODRA 10, 10th visual arts festival, Kalamaria, Thessaloniki,Greece. With amongst others: Dan Perjovschi (RO), Aleksandra Mir (PO), Kirsten Mosher (USA), Marion Mahu (FR), Barbara Noiret (FR), Vlatka Horvat(Croatia), Cedrick Eymenier (FR), Nina Paley (USA), Knutte Wester (SW), James Litston (UK), Hélène D’Hervé (FR), Wang Du (CH) en Eirini Linardaki & Vincent Parisot (GR/FR).
  • Acquisition Presentation Contemporary Drawings, Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. With Paul Noble, Luc Tuymans, Hans de Wit, Paul van der Eerden, Oscar de las Flores, Peter Feiler, Ewoud van Rijn, Krijn de Koning and Charles Avery.

2009

  • Cleaning Up The Mess, RC de Ruimte, IJmuiden, Holland. With Eliane Bots, Roy Villevoye, Frank Koolen, Tiong Ang, Jan Dietvorst and Luuk Wilmering.

2008

  • Dessins, Gallery Bernard Jordan, Paris, France. With Paul van der Eerden, Gilgian Gelzer and Elmar Trenkwalder.
  • Basso 110, Napoli, Italy. With Rossella Biscotti, Parisa Yousef Doust and Princess Dragonmom.
  • Inevitable Continuum, 10 Years of Locust Projects, Locust Projects, Miami, USA.
  • Expenditure, Busan Biennale 2008, Busan South Korea. With Princess Dragonmom.
  • Considering Detroit, MOCAD, Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, USA. With Ellen Cantor, Maurice Greenia Jr. (Maugre), Jim Gustafson, Allie McGhee, Heather McGill, Gordon Newton and Time Stereo.
  • Galerie Jade, Galerie Diana Stigter, Amsterdam. With Johanna Billing, Miguel Calderon, Doug Fishbone, Erik Van Lieshout, Annika Ström, Keith Wilson and Time Stereo. Curated by Tom Morton.
  • Le Salon du Dessin Contemporain, Gallery Bernard Jordan, Paris, France.

2007

  • Black & Black, UFO Factory, Detroit, USA.
  • Independant Drawing Gig, Quartair, Den Haag.
  • Drawing Typologies, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam.
  • Exchanging Roles, Alternative Platforms from Rotterdam in Careof, Milano, Italy. With Ann Course and Paul Clark, Cary Loren, Vanessa Renwick and Time Stereo.

2006

  • Wormhole 4, Stroom, The Hague.
  • Dessins, Gallery Bernard Jordan, Paris, France. With Bruno Gironcoli, Elmar Trenkwalder
    Marcel van Eeden and Paul van der Eerden.
  • Hommage, Center for the Visual Arts, Rotterdam.

2005

  • Evil Walks, Project Rotterdam in Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam.
  • The Devil’s Devil’s Nite, The Lab Gallery, New York City, USA.

2004

  • Scenario 2020, Ontwerpen voor de toekomst, Exposorium Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam.

2003

  • Time Stereo Family, C-Pop Gallery, Detroit, USA.
  • East↔West, Gore Fest, TENT, Rotterdam.
  • Blobs, SKOR, Amsterdam with Gabriel Lester and Jurgen Bey.

2002

  • Ontvelde Plekken, De Hallen, Haarlem.
  • Buiten Zinnen/WORMHOLE 2, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam.
  • Kaboom, Museum Of New Art, Detroit, USA

2001

  • Wormhole 1, Gendai Heights Gallery, Tokyo, Japan.
  • Hieronymus Bosch Exhibition, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam.

2000

  • Wormhole The Movie, XX-Multiple Gallery, Rotterdam.
  • Wormhole 1, Bookbeat gallery, Detroit, USA.
  • Strip, Gallery Outline, Amsterdam (exhibition by Stichting Zet)
  • The Majic Garden, C-Pop Gallery, exhibition and performance, Detroit, USA.

1999

  • Speciale Aanmaak, Artis,’s-Hertogenbosch.

1996

  • Fresh Breeze, Nova Zembla, ’s-Hertogenbosch.
  • Snoei Gallery, Rotterdam.
  • Galerie 96, Kunsthal, Rotterdam.

1995

  • De Uitvinders, Arti et Amicitae, Amsterdam.
  • Stroomopwaarts, De Hal, Rotterdam.
  • Shaking Patterns, W 139, Amsterdam.

1989- 1990

  • Germinations 5, ELAC Lyon, Frauenmuseum Bonn, De Beyerd, Breda.

1989 – 1991

  • Museum for Contemporary Art, MUHKA, Antwerp, Belgium.

Projects

2009

  • Workshop at Ecole Supérieure d’Art et de Design of Reims, France.

2008

  • Publishing and editing Wormhole 5 magazine.

2007

  • Publishing and editing Wormhole 4 magazine.

2002

  • Publishing and editing Wormhole 3 magazine.
  • Co-curator for RPM, (exhibition of the sound art collection of Jan van Toorn for Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam.
  • Curating Ontvelde Plekken, Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem.

2001

  • Publishing and editing Wormhole 2 magazine.
  • Curating the contemporary art segment of the Hieronymus Bosch exhibition with Chris Dercon and Bernard Vermet, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam.

2000

  • Publishing and editing Wormhole 1 magazine.

1998

  • I rip you, you rip me, interdisciplinary project with Destroy All Monsters (Mike Kelley, Cary Loren, Jim Shaw, Art Byington and Dave Muller), John Sinclair, Charlemagne Palestine, Princes DragonMom.

Publications

2022

  • HÖLL, a publication by Galerie Bernard Jordan and Ronald Cornelissen. Text by Julie Enckell Julliard and lay-out by Simon Davis.

2019

  • Androuiette in de Petteflat, a publication with my drawings by Solo Ma Non Troppo, Paris, France.

2018

  • Detroit Backwards, a publication by Printroom (Rotterdam) with drawings by Davin Brainard, Ivan Cornelissen-Wiegel and myself. A Time Stereo edition of a 100 copies.

2017

  • An Alphabet of 15 Letters: The Drawing Biennial 2017 from A to Y. Text by Tom Morton, Drawing Biennial Catalogue, The Drawing Room, London UK.

2016

  • Limbo Loopt/Limbo Slaapt, signed and numbered edition of 40 (30 Dutch and 10 English copies). Lay-out by Ronald van Lit.

2014

  • The Life and Times of Ron Away, monograph by MEUZE Foundation about my sculptures and installations. With a text by Tom Morton, lay-out by Simon Davis.

2012

  • Boy’s R Us, signed and numbered edition of 30 books with an originale drawing. Published by Serious Matters, Amsterdam. Text by QS Serafijn.
  • Paysage Mental / Le dessin Sans Dessin, catalogue MUba, Tourcoing, France. Text by Yannick Courbes.

2011

  • TOOSH, monograph on my drawings with texts by Peter Nijenhuis and Tom Morton.
  • Catalogue kodra 10 visual arts festival in Kalamaria, Thessaloniki, Greece.

2008

  • Expenditure, Catalogue Busan Biennale, Busan, South Korea.

2007

  • Wormhole 5.
  • Catalogue Drawing Typologies, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam.

2006

  • Halszaken, publication by De Hallen, Haarlem.
  • Catalogue for Museum Nagsael, Rotterdam.
  • Wormhole 4.

2003

  • Wormhole 3, (1713, a collaboration with Chris Kennedy)

2002

  • Wormhole 2.
  • Wij Bouwen Nieuwe Zinnen, publication by W139, Amsterdam, Holland.
  • Green Groceries 2.

2001

  • Catalogue Beeldspoor by Rotterdam’s City Theatre, Rotterdam, Holland.

2000

  • Wormhole 1 (Hare-Brained a collaboration with Ben Schot), a magazine produced and edited by me.
  • Green Groceries (Captain Proteus a collaboration with Chris Kennedy)
  • Documents Sur L’Art, article about I Rip You, You Rip Me.

1999

  • Collect, Recollect, Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, Holland.

1996

  • Catalogue by Nova Zembla, Den Bosch, Holland.

1993

  • Monografie by Centrum Beeldende Kunst, Rotterdam, Holland.

1990

  • Catalogue of the collection by MUHKA, Museum for Contemporary Art Antwerp, Belgium.
  • Catalogue by De Fabriek, Eindhoven, Holland.

1989 – 1990

  • Catalogue Germinations 5.

Commissions

2004

  • FEAR, a multiple made for Blanco Foundation, Rotterdam.

2003

  • Workshop with 6 students of the Technical University Eindhoven to design a pavilion consigned by SKOR and TU-e.
  • Proposal for SKOR for the ‘traffic-garden’ in the Plaswijckpark in Rotterdam.

2001

  • Ubu Roy, consignment for Beeldspoor Foundation.

Performances

2013

  • Performance at MOCAD Detroit with Princes DragonMom and Extended Organ (with Paul McCarthy, Fredrik Nilsen, Joe Potts, and Tom Recchion) Special thanks: Greg Baise.
  • Unicorn Man, Club Tansmediale Festival, Berlin, Germany.

2005

  • The Devil’s Robot, The Lab Gallery, New York City, USA.

2001

  • Performances with Princess DragonMom in Tokyo (Cay’s and Uplink), Nagoya (Takuzo), Osaka (&’s Gallery), Marugame (Uchiwa Port Museum) and Matsuyama (Bibros).
  • Performances with Princess DragonMom at The Knitting Factory in New York.
  • The Haunted Tube, closing performance for the Hieronymus Bosch Exhibition with Princess DragonMom at Museum Boijmans Beuningen, Rotterdam.

2000

  • Performance with Princess DragonMom, Artis, Den Bosch.

1999

  • Performance with Princess DragonMom and Koji Tano (Japan) at TENT. (Rotterdam), The Spitz (Londen, UK), Extrapool (Nijmegen), Planete (Luik, Belgium), De Fabriek (Gent, Belgium) and KunstGalerie kg (Duisburg, Germany)

1998

  • Devil’s Robot and Zoo Trip with Princess DragonMom, Nighttown, Rotterdam for I Rip You, You Rip Me.
  • Performance with Princess DragonMom, The Spitz, Londen.

Residencies

2019

  • Séjour artistique on the Manguier boat, Disko Bay, Greenland.

2018

  • The Netherlands Arctic Station, Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard.
  • Galleri Svalbard, Longyearbyen, Svalbard.

2008

  • Fountainhead Residency, Miami, USA.

2007

  • Instituto Buena Bista, Curaçao Center for Contemporary Art, Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles.

Lectureship

2023-2012

  • Teacher spatial design for the pre-master course of Interior Architecture, The Utrecht School of the Arts, faculty Visual Arts and Design.
  • Utrecht School of the Arts (HKU), The Netherlands, preparatory courses 3D.

2011

  • Utrecht School of the Arts (HKU), The Netherlands, preparatory courses 3D.

2010

  • Utrecht School of the Arts (HKU), The Netherlands, preparatory courses 3D.

2009

  • One week workshop at L’Ecole Supérieure d’Art et de Design de Reims, France.
  • Utrecht School of the Arts (HKU), The Netherlands, preparatory courses 3D.
  • Utrecht School of the Arts (HKU), The Netherlands, guest professor for the bachelors programme.

Prices

2011

  • Prix Canson, France.

Leave a Comment