Jaap Mooy - Surreal figure - Sold

Jaap Mooy (1915, Bergen NH-1987, Bergen NH) was an extraordinary artist who lived his entire life in Bergen.
Although he spent his days as a blacksmith and metalworker, he soon became obsessed with art and was inspired by the lifestyle of the artists from Bergen whom he regularly met in the café. This marked the beginning of an idiosyncratic artistic career.
Although Mooy considered enrolling at the academy, he followed the advice of Charlie Toorop and her circle to remain self-taught. In the early 1930s, Mooy created photo collages and small assemblages. Later, he began working in the style of Cobra.
He had a close friendship with Lucebert and exhibited in the 1960s together with Karel Appel and Lucebert in the Dutch pavilion at the Venice Biennale. Although he received an invitation to join Cobra, Mooy refused, because he did not want to belong to a group and wanted to continue speaking his own language.
From the late 1950s onwards, he became better known for his scrap metal sculptures and drawings, for which he developed his own unique technique. His craftsmanship was masterful, and his work possessed a profound expressive power.
Mooy was scarred by the war and chose to work with waste, intrigued by both beauty and junk. Through his art, he responds directly and fiercely to situations in which crimes against humanity are committed, such as during the Hungarian Uprising in 1956. He portrays key political players, as well as religious leaders, as perpetrators.
His sculptures brought him recognition in Germany and America in the 1960s. Yet Mooy did not strive to make a name for himself. He believed that limiting his style meant losing his freedom. With this conviction, he undermined his own unique signature and made it difficult for himself to find a place in the established order. He preferred the struggle against power.
For Mooy, art was not an end in itself; he wanted to make people aware of human rights, dictatorships, and oppression. He wanted to continue responding to the outside world.
His work is included in the collections of, among others, the Kröller Müller Museum, the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, and the Centraal Museum, Utrecht.
This is an original work by the artist.