Jan De Cock

Who is Jan De Cock?

Jan De Cock is a contemporary Belgian visual artist. From the start of his career, his art has revolved around 'production' and the ways in which an artist relates to the broad culturally-injected concept of 'modernism'. In 2003 Jan De Cock entered the competition Prix de la Jeune Peinture Belge. He is, after Luc Tuymans, only the second Belgian artist to have had an exposition at Tate Modern and the first living Belgian artist to have an exhibition at MoMA, which opened on 23 January, 2008.

Jan De Cock's production can be defined as a time-expanding enterprise in which the concept of 'progression' constitutes the creation of 'form' that generates fundamental meanings far beyond the scintillation of appearances. Time and time again he has constructed intricately complicated systems of associations and references that inter-connect with his work. He stands in a long tradition in which art is not seen as an attempt to convey "true meaning" but rather as a means of producing difference, of visualizing alternatives by pushing the freedom of aesthetic discourse to its limits.