Jonny Isaak (*1989) is an artist based in Cologne. He graduated from Braunschweig University of Art in 2016 receiving the Meisterschüler Price of the University. He was granted the NRW Scholarship Schloss Ringenberg in 2017 and the working grant of Stiftung Kunstfonds Bonn in 2022. Jonny Isaaks works have been exhibited in several solo and group exhibitions in Germany. Furthermore, he was part of the curatorial team of the offspace program at PiK Deutz – Projektraum im KunstWerk in Cologne from 2018 until 2022.
untitled, 2022, oil on wood, 35 x 25 cm
Foto: Claudia Goldberg
untitled, 2024, oil on wood, 25 x 35 cm
Foto: Jonny Isaak
Curtain, 2024, oil on wood, 32 x 30 cm
Foto: Jonny Isaak
Circle Snake, 2023, oil on wood, 25 x 35 cm
Foto: Claudia Goldberg
Discipline
painting
untitled (nightpiece), 2024, 35 x 25 cm
Foto: Claudia Goldberg
“The works of Jonny Isaak, often modest in scale, invite you up close and draw you in – an act that establishes a certain intimacy between painting and spectator. But no matter how close you are, the scenes remain aloof at the same time. Despite the recognizable elements, a straightforward interpretation seems impossible. Isaaks paintings of doubled horizons and manifold moons remain unfamiliar and unnatural in an important sense.
In this play with recognition and alienation, the work touches upon the concept of the uncanny. Though the paintings always hold a connection to the natural world, reality is subtly distorted.” - Marie Stel, 2023