Jorden Boulet

b. 1990, Belgian

Jorden Boulet is a contemporary painter best known for his project-oriented practice with a constant reference to the idea of paradise. White beaches, palm trees, or a beautiful sunset evoke an atmosphere of happiness, joy, perfection, or freedom. However, Boulet’s paradisiacal world comes with a twist, as it is an ambiguous illusion with Kitsch, decadence, and superficiality, but also elusiveness and melancholy lurking just around the corner.

From a visual point of view, the Belgian painter distinguishes himself with a bold and extreme use of color. However, Jorden Boulet himself is color blind, experiencing reality and the process of painting differently, resulting in unique contrasts and confident brushstrokes. A recurring motif throughout his oeuvre is a characteristic and abstract écriture of deceivingly random marks or scribbles on top of the picture. These marks seem to breach the illusion of the paradise, as they emphasize the distance between the viewer and the depicted paradise.

Jorden Boulet was born in 1990 in Hasselt, Belgium. He was trained as a painter (MFA) at PXL MAD in Hasselt, Belgium, where the artist currently teaches in visual and audiovisual arts. In 2015, Boulet won the Wanatoe Grand Prize in Limburg (BE), after also being selected for the Godecharle ARBA ESA in Brussels (BE). He has exhibited at national and international institutions, such as Z33 House for Contemporary Art, Design & Architecture in Hasselt (BE) in 2021 or the Marres House for Contemporary Culture in Maastricht (NL) in 2020 during in the Limburg Biennale.

Jorden Boulet resides and works in Hasselt, Belgium.

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