Joseph Klibansky
Biography
‘What I find important is that people remember my work and that it has ‘stopping power’’.
From his show-stopping polished bronze sculptures to his surrealist pastel paintings, Joseph Klibansky is a master of all mediums. The artist’s practice is rooted in technological advancements and by utilising the limitless potential of digitally enhanced art, Klibansky is able to create both complex sculptural compositions as well as render his monumental paintings by digitally layering hundreds of images. The Dutch artist is best known for his highly reflective sculptures, depicting animals and distinctive characters as shining monuments that can be found all across the globe, from the snowy mountains of Switzerland to the dusty desert of Dubai. Although relatively young, Klibansky has already proved himself to be a serious player in the art world.
Joseph Klibansky was born in Cape Town, South Africa in 1984 to a creative family, with a photographer as a father and a stylist as a mother. Moving to the Netherlands during his childhood, Klibansky studied business and despite immersing himself in creative environments from a young age, proceeded to pursue a career as an entrepreneur. However, swiftly after graduating from business school in the Netherlands, Klibansky realised that his dreams were rooted in creativity and thereafter, exclusively devoted his talents to art.
Klibansky soon became fascinated with the power of technology and the limitless potential of digital imagery. As a result, the young artist explored this realm extensively, developing a signature style that honed the power of technology in both his painting and sculpture, by merging hundreds of images for his canvases, and creating complex compositional positions for his sculptures.
In 2008, Klibansky started his digital paintings, detailing dystopian metropolises, where the natural and man-made collide. Perfecting his technique over the course of four years, Klibansky continued to make artworks for his New Urban Wonderland series, with Garden of Evolution - painted by Klibansky in 2012 - being the culmination of his creativity and hard work. That same year, Klibansky ventured into the medium of sculpture, debuting Reflections of Truth, a sculpture of Pinocchio rendered in his now distinctive style of highly polished bronze. Reflections of Truth has come to be a recurring motif throughout Klibansky’s work, with him returning to the concept later in his career.
In 2017, Klibansky had his first ever solo exhibition at Museum de Fundatie in Zwolle, the Netherlands. Entitled ‘Leap of Faith’, the exhibition spanned five months, featuring paintings, collages and sculptures by the artist. As surrealist as they are vibrant, Klibansky’s artworks were an immediate hit and led to the artist exhibiting at the 57th Venice Biennale that same year. Between 2018 and 2019, Klibansky had six more solo and group exhibitions in the United Kingdom, China, Switzerland and the United States. To compliment two of these solo exhibitions, Klibansky created a monumental outdoor sculpture entitled Self-Portrait of a Dreamer that occupied public space both in Amsterdam, the Netherlands and in Guangzhou, China. Standing at 13 feet, the colossal sculpture portrays a gravity-defying astronaut balancing on a chair.
In 2020, Joseph Klibansky first exhibited at Maddox Gallery in an Autumn Contemporary show, both in the Westbourne Grove, Maddox Street and Gstaad gallery locations. Later that year, the artist collaborated with Maddox Gallery again, but this time to take over Annabel’s, an exclusive private members club in the heart of Mayfair. Transforming the interior and exterior of the club with a menagerie of his bronze sculptures, the collaboration was a success.
Just a month later, on the 31st of December, Klibansky revealed his latest sculpture in front of Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building. Titled Birthday Suit, the 3-metre bronze sculpture of a monkey was erected over eight hours by a crew of thirty men to welcome in the New Year and remains displayed in the garden of the popular downtown restaurant, The Galliard.
In September 2021, Klibansky was commissioned by Heineken and Formula 1 to design the winner's podium for the Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix, an event which was streamed world wide.
The artist lives and works in the Netherlands.
Works for sale
