Johan Grimonprez, a Belgian artist born in 1962, pursued his artistic education at the School of Visual Arts, followed by the prestigious Whitney Museum Independent Study Program in New York.
Grimonprez's work exists at the intersection of theory and practice, art and cinema, documentary and fiction, inviting the viewer to re-examine the presented information. His creative process is informed by an archaeology of contemporary media, exploring the tension between the intimate and the broader picture of globalization, and questioning our understanding of the contemporary sublime, which is often framed by fear and has infected political and social dialogue.
Through his work, Grimonprez suggests new narratives and emphasizes a multiplicity of histories and realities, challenging the viewer to reconsider their perspective.
Grimonprez's international acclaim was achieved with his film essay, dial H-I-S-T-O-R-Y, which premiered at the Centre Pompidou in Paris and Documenta X in 1997, eerily foreshadowing the events of September 11th. The film explores the story of airplane hijackings since the 1970s and their impact on news reporting.
Grimonprez's work is represented in numerous international collections, including the Centre Georges Pompidou, the Kanazawa Art Museum, the National Gallery, and the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art. His curatorial projects have been hosted at major museums worldwide, and his films have been included in prestigious film festivals globally.
In 2016, Grimonprez's feature-length film, Shadow World, won Best Documentary Feature Film at the Edinburgh International Film Festival and the 61st International Film Festival of Valladolid.
Grimonprez divides his time between Belgium and New York, where he is a faculty member at the School of Visual Arts.
For more information, please visit www.johangrimonprez.be.
