Jan Henderikse

Biography of Jan Henderikse

Jan Henderikse (*1937, Delft, The Netherlands) is only fifteen when he meets likewise Delft born Jan Schoonhoven (1914-1994) who will become his older colleague, his mentor and a life long friend. Henderikse starts making drawings in an informal painterly way while studying at the ‘Vrije Academie’ in The Hague from 1955 until 1958.

In 1958, on Henderikse’s initiative the first Informal art exhibition takes place in the refectory of Delft Polytechnic College. From this first exhibition emerged the Nederlandse Informele Groep (Dutch Informal Group) with members Armando, Kees van Bohemen, Henderikse, Henk Peeters and Jan Schoonhoven.

1959–1960
Start of an international tour with the Nederlandse Informele Groep, exhibiting in Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Great Britain and the Netherlands. Moves to Cologne, and later to Düsseldorf. Creates his first assemblages using found objects. Contact with the ZERO circle artists. Signs the Oberkasseler Bridge in Düsseldorf as an original artwork, and creates his first installation of wooden vegetable crates.

1961
Formation of the Dutch Nul group, with members Armando, Henderikse, Henk Peeters and Jan Schoonhoven. Participation in international ZERO exhibitions. Travels between Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Paris.

1962
Participates in the exhibition Nul (1962) at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, with his installation of wooden beer crates. Henderikse settles in Curaçao, working with assemblages and readymades; creates his first serial works using photographs. 

1965
Participation in the São Paulo Art Biennial, Brazil, as official entry of the Dutch Antilles.

1968
The artist moves to Manhattan, New York, working mainly with assemblages of found objects and photographic sequences. Solo exhibitions at Museo de Bellas Artes, Caracas, and Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam.

1975
Since the mid-1970s Henderikse again takes up working with money in the range from coins to toys to kitsch objects. Participation in international film festivals with his experimental films from 1974–1975.

1980
In the first half of the 1980s, Henderikse works with artist’s books and editions; frequent travels to Berlin, Germany.

1987–88
Moves to Berlin at the invitation of DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service), and has a second studio there until 2000. From the mid-1980s Henderikse focuses on photo objects, additionally working extensively with readymades, junk, toys and kitsch objects. Conceptually based photographic works, multiples and readymades form the center of his work up to today.

1992
Lectures at the Berliner Sommerakademie, Berlin, Germany.

2000
Travels between New York and Antwerp, where he has a second studio, until today.

2007
Extensive solo exhibitions at the Staatliches Museum Schwerin and Stadtgalerie Kiel. Takes part in major group exhibitions in Düsseldorf, Saint-Étienne, London, Amsterdam and New York.

2012
Participation in the exhibition Caribbean: Crossroads of the World, El Museo del Barrio/Queens Museum/The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York. In 2014, the exhibition traveled to Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM).

2013
Participation in the exhibition ZERO, Museu Oscar Niemeyer, Curitiba, Brasil. The exhibition traveled to Fundaçāo Iberê Camargo, Porto Alegre, Brasil, and Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, Brazil.

2014–2015
Participation in the exhibition ZERO. Countdown to Tomorrow, 1950s–60s at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York. In 2015, the exhibition traveled to Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin, and the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam.

2018
Retrospective solo exhibition, Jan Henderikse. Alles en niets (All and Nothing), at the Stedelijk Museum Schiedam, the Netherlands.

Jan Henderikse lives In Brooklyn, New York and Antwerp.

(from: Antoon Melissen, Jan Henderikse, Bielefeld 2018)