Overview

Janise Yntema’s practice is focused on the ancient painting technique of beeswax encaustic. For over 25 years Yntema has refined her use of this material and has become widely known for her work in this technique. In the past she has worked with marble dust, aluminium, iron powder and wood, but she has found a subtlety rarely found in artificial materials in her use of wax. Her paintings are created from numerous applications of translucent pigmented wax, fused together with a blowtorch to create a smooth and glossy skin-like surface. With her recent inclusion of original photography in her works, she has brought a contemporary platform to this historic medium, obscuring the boundary between photography and painting. 

 

Continually intrigued by the fine line between figuration and abstraction, Yntema’s works merge the digital with the ancient. Yntema alters the ‘truth’ of painting, questioning how reality is located when the manipulated and objective are combined. Her beautifully tranquil pieces have a sense of silent simplicity, creating an atmosphere of transcendent lightness. Human presence is minimised while the inherent beauty of nature is foregrounded. 

 

‘With her affinity for the land and attraction towards the spiritual, Yntema's paintings embrace the primal and unseen found both in the world that surrounds and within.  Sharing within the romantic tradition, her works rest firmly within the realm of the sublime.'

 

Works
Exhibitions
Studio shots
Publications
Biography

More recently, Yntema has used her work with beeswax and with landscape to focus on environmental concerns. She has presented numerous lectures challenging the viability of wax encaustic, the oldest known painting technique, in this modern age. Janise Yntema has exhibited internationally, including at the Smithsonian, and her work is included in numerous renowned collections such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art and the Art Institute of Chicago.

 

Education 

2018-20

Paris School of Arts and Culture, University of Kent, MA, History and Philosophy of Art

1980-84 Parson’s School of Design, New York City, BFA
1979 Art Students League, New York City

 

Selected Solo Exhibitons
2023 'Where  Sky Meets Earth', The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh
2019 'A Sense of Place', Cadogan Gallery, London, UK
2014 Libre Choix Cabinet Artistique, Bruxelles, Belgium
1997 A.I.R. Gallery, New York City, US (also in 1995/1993)
1996 Watchung Arts Center, Watchung, New Jersey, US - award show

 

Selected 2 & 3 Person Exhibitions 
2012 Galerie Josine Bokhoven, Amsterdam, The Netherlands - 2 person 
2003 Cadogan Galery, London, UK - 2 person
1998 Soho 20, New York City, US. Invitational - 3 person
  Watchung Arts Center, Watchung, New Jersey, US. Invitational Exhibition- 2 person 
1994 William Carlos Williams Center for the Arts, Rutherford, New Jersey, US. Award Show - 2 person 
1993 Tribeca 148 Gallery, New York City, US. - 3 person

 

Selected Group Exhibitions

2022

'S.M.A.K.', Gent, Belgium

2020

'Winter Exhibition', Royal Academy of Art,  London 

2018

'TRUC TROC '14th Edition, Museum Bozar, Brussels

2014 A.I.R. Gallery, New York City, US (exhibited regularly since 1989)
2001 Stephen Lacey Gallery, London, UK
1998 Smithsonian Institute’s Archive of American Art, New York City, US
1996 The Arsenal Gallery, Central Park, New York City, US
1994 Brooke Alexander Gallery, New York City, US

 

Public Collections 

THE NETHERLANDS
Phillips Corporation, Eindhoven
PTS Software, Utrecht
School voor Filosophie, Amsterdam
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
 
GERMANY
Gutenberg Museum, Mainz
 
UK
Leigh Day & Co., London,
 
USA
Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn, New York
Carnegie Institute Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Cincinnati Museum of Art, Ohio
Hoggard Wagner Collection, New York City
Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, Oklahoma
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
Milwaukee Arts Museum, Wisconsin
Museum of Modern Art Archives, New York City
National Museum for Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C.
Provincetown Art Association and Museum, Rhode Island
Yale University Art Gallery, Connecticut
As part of the 1993 A.I.R. Portfolio included in the departments of Prints & Drawings