The Art of Becoming

Born in Belgium in 1976, Jonas Leriche spent ten years working as a fashion photographer before making the decision to move to New York and focus exclusively on his artistic practice. An early career in fashion enabled Leriche to develop his photography skills but spending day after day in an industry dominated by superficiality and social media posturing, left him with little enthusiasm. The experience did, however, entirely inform his approach to the practice of making art.

An early career in fashion enabled Leriche to develop his photography skills but spending day after day in an industry dominated by superficiality and social media posturing, left him with little enthusiasm. The experience did, however, entirely inform his approach to the practice of making art.

Leriche consciously seeks out the juxtaposition between what is artificial and what is authentic, rendering artworks that encourage the viewer to identify this duality. The driving force behind Leriche’s work is his desire to inject raw, natural elements into a flawless, cultivated image in order to challenge those viewers who are unaccustomed to scratching any deeper than the surface.

Leriche’s photographs are explosively emotional and striking in composition – a direct result of the fact that Leriche meticulously “constructs” each, layer by layer by layer. A single photoshoot typically requires a week of 18-hour days, due to the elaborate design and direction, not to mention Leriche’s unparalleled attention to detail.

Leriche’s newest collection of sculptures entitled, “Vanity Skulls,” is evocative of his photography and yet specifically created to explore the transience of life, the futility of pleasure and the certainty of death. Each sculpture seeks to contrast symbols of wealth with symbols of ephemerality and death.

Leriche’s silkscreen print editions are an homage of sorts to his sculptures – a realization of the “Vanity Skull” in a completely different way, utilizing diamond dust, gold and silver leaf, iridescence and a myriad of colors.

Leriche’s artworks have been exhibited at Art Miami, Context, Scope and Art Wynwood. He has had solo exhibitions in New York City, Dubai, Saint Petersburg Russia and in Antwerp Belgium.