Transforming emotions, intentional or unconscious ideas into gripping images: this is what matters to me. Constructing my photographs layer by layer, with meticulous attention to detail, I compose my vision of beauty. Taking the actual photo is but the final stage of a long, deliberate process, punctuated by flashes of inspiration. This is why I first and foremost consider myself an art director.
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.
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 connposition — a direct result of the fact that Leriche meticulously "constructs" each, lager by lager by lager. 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 get 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 ephernerality 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 wag, 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, NY and in Antwerp, Belgium.