Joseph Klibansky

(Dutch, born 1984)

Joseph Klibansky is a Dutch artist best known for his large mixed media paintings of surreal cityscapes. His work often depicts a space in which utopia and dystopia coexist, painting scenes of violence and terror in soft, pastel colors. For example, in his painting Garden of Evolution (2012), he depicts a crumbling Times Square surrounded by colorful butterflies—a symbol of calm in the face of chaos. Also interested in the changing nature of the modern world, Klibansky’s work addresses themes related to communication. “Symbols are like icons on a smartphone,” the artist has said. “It’s a quick way to communicate and they are connected to the time we live in, where everything has to be faster and more condensed than in the past.” Born in 1984 in Cape Town, South Africa, he attended business school in the Netherlands, before dropping out to pursue a career in the arts. Since 2016, he worked on a series of Pop Art-inspired sculptures casted in bronze, such as Reflections on Truth (2012). His 2017 exhibition “Leap of Faith: at the Museum de Fundatie in Zwole”, in which he presented several works he had shown at the 57th Venice Biennale, explored the nature of hope and belief through painting and sculpture. Today, Klibansky lives and works in Amsterdam, Netherlands.