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Jimi Dams (born June 1963) is a Belgian-American contemporary artist.

Early Life

Dams started drawing from a young age. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, Belgium but eventually moved on to Brussels to continue his studies. He worked primarily with Belgian minimalist Luc Claus and graduated summa cum laude in 1984.

Career

1986 - 1990

Dams’ first solo exhibition PunkMe (1986), Jordaenshuis, Antwerp, featured powerful linocut portraits evocative of his life in the underground Punk scene. Even though the linocut was considered an established professional print medium, used by Die Brücke and artists such as Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse, the choice of medium was frowned upon by his peers. Undeterred, as ever, he continued to push the material’s boundaries.

Inspired by British post-punk ballet dancer Michael Clark, Dams started exploring movement as a subject matter for his work. A series of drawings and linocuts, featuring Clark, was exhibited in MOve (1987) an exhibition at Harrods, London. He went on to explore movement in series with dancers such as Merce Cunningham, Stephen Petronio and Philippe Découflé.

In 1988, Dams’ artwork slowly started to move towards drawings, murals and installations. During that time, and despite his growing reputation as a recluse, he also began to develop a strong interest in collaborating with other artists. His work with writer Tom Lanoye, Cocktale (1988), was the first in a long list of collaborations with artists from different disciplines such as writer Peter Verhelst, all-around icon and Salvador Dali muse Amanda Lear, novelist and poet Dennis Cooper, curator Joshua Compston and artist Devon Dikeou (Zingmagazine).

The first book on the artist’s work, 78 Linos (1990), was published by De Carbolineum Pers, Belgium. It turned out to be his linocut swan song.

1990 - 2004

In 1991 Dams, known for his Punk attitude and outspoken views, became the subject of a RTBF (French Belgian public service Radio and Television) documentary. Meanwhile, Dams continued to exhibit throughout Europe. After his LR.Lear (1993) exhibition at Galérie Oz, Paris, galleries such as Gracie Mansion, New York, Torch, Amsterdam and Galerie S&H De Buck, Ghent started representing his work. In 1997, Dams’ ANP exhibition at S&H De Buck gallery, Ghent, was featured on BRTN (Dutch Belgian public service Radio and Television). An interview for Studio Brussel (Dutch Belgian radio) aired the same year.

From 1991 on, Jimi Dams’ work has been exhibited in museums in Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, Austria, the U.S. and China as well as in art galleries worldwide.

envoy enterprises

2005 - present

In 2005, Jimi Dams opened envoy enterprises, an independent contemporary art space, in Manhattan. Currently located in New York’s Lower East Side, in 2007, envoy enterprises was the first to leave the Chelsea Art district for the Lower East side. Highly acclaimed projects include Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s Amanda Lear (2006), T(h)ree (2007) a collaboration between contemporary artists and the actors of Shortbus, FG.Ft (2012), a tribute to Fad Gadget (Frank Tovey) and The Great Debate About Art (2015), a six months exhibition project on the essay by Roy Harris (linguist).

In June 2017, ARTnews and Artforum reported the closing of envoy enterprises’ exhibition space. In a scathing letter, published by several art outlets, Dams, forever Punk, addressed his disgust with the way the art world was evolving and announced that his exhibition program would, at some point, return albeit in a different format.

envoy enterprises continues to represent artists from its 87 Rivington Street address.

References

1. Artforum
2. ARTnews
3. The Conversation Pod
4. Art in America
5. Artnet
6. Vernissage TV interview
7. Time Out New York article
8. Zing Magazine Interview with Jimi Dams and Amanda Lear
9. Eyemazing cover of Eyemazing Magazine issue featuring interview with Jimi Dams.

external links

• envoy enterprises Website