Jan Yoors - Untitled, 1975

Jan Yoors

Charcoal Drawings

04/12/2015

06/02/2016

FIFTY ONE TOO

Opening: Thursday, December 3rd 2015

FIFTY ONE TOO is honoured to present a focus-exhibition of the versatile Belgian-American artist Jan Yoors (1922-1977), where his charcoal drawings of the female body will be shown.

Read the full press release here.

Jan Yoors - Untitled, 1975
Jan Yoors - Untitled, 1975
Jan Yoors - Untitled, 1975
Jan Yoors - Untitled, 1975
Jan Yoors - Untitled, 1972
Jan Yoors - Untitled, 1972
Jan Yoors - Untitled, 1977
Jan Yoors - Untitled, 1977

Jan Yoors (Estate of)

Jan Yoors was a writer, painter, photographer, filmmaker, sculptor, and master of tapestry. His work was inspired by a life rich with experiences – from his youth with a gypsy kumpania, his imprisonment by the Nazis, to his years writing about and photographing the diverse people of New York City.

While in school in London after the war, he was introduced to tapestry and weaving and studied traditions from Aubusson to Samarkand. Early work was largely figurative and then became increasingly abstract. His wives, Marianne and Annabert as well as others, weaved under his supervision. In 1959 Art in America nominated him as one of the new talents.

biography

Born in Antwerp, Belgium in 1922
Died in New York City, US in 1977

Jan Yoors - Untitled, 1977
Jan Yoors - Untitled, 1975
Jan Yoors - Untitled, 1975
Jan Yoors - Untitled, 1977
Jan Yoors - Untitled, 1977
Jan Yoors - Untitled, 1977
Jan Yoors - Untitled, 1977
Jan Yoors - Untitled, 1977
Jan Yoors - Untitled, 1977
Jan Yoors - Gray Tantra, 1977 (tapestry)
Jan Yoors - Gray Tantra, 1977 (tapestry)
Jan Yoors - Jungle, 1968 (tapestry)
Jan Yoors - Jungle, 1968 (tapestry)
Jan Yoors - Untitled, 1977 (gouache)
Jan Yoors - Untitled, 1977 (gouache)
Jan Yoors - Untitled, 1976 (gouache)
Jan Yoors - Untitled, 1976 (gouache)
Jan Yoors - Untitled, 1977 (gouache)
Jan Yoors - Untitled, 1977 (gouache)
Jan Yoors - Life, 1976 (gouache)
Jan Yoors - Life, 1976 (gouache)
Jan Yoors - Broadway, 1964
Jan Yoors - Broadway, 1964

In the 1960s Yoors deepened his interest in photography. During his research for Only One New York, his 1963 feature-length documentary film about the city’s ethnic diversity, he shot photographs that were collected in a book of the same name, published in 1965. He also returned to Europe to reestablish contact with those Gypsies who had survived the Holocaust. The pictures he took on this journey were shown in an exhibition at the National Museum of Science in New York City and now illustrate the paperback edition of “The Gypsies”.

Jan Yoors - The United House of Prayer for All People of the Church of the Apostolic Faith, Daddy Grace, 1963
Jan Yoors - The United House of Prayer for All People of the Church of the Apostolic Faith, Daddy Grace, 1963
Jan Yoors - Dizzy Gillespie at Yoors’ studio loft, 1962
Jan Yoors - Dizzy Gillespie at Yoors’ studio loft, 1962
Jan Yoors - Untitled (Dancing at Jan Yoors’ studio), 1962
Jan Yoors - Untitled (Dancing at Jan Yoors’ studio), 1962
Jan Yoors - Untitled (Johnny at Thanksgiving), c. 1963
Jan Yoors - Untitled (Johnny at Thanksgiving), c. 1963
Jan Yoors - Untitled (The Miracles of 116th Street Spanish Harlem), 1962-63
Jan Yoors - Untitled (The Miracles of 116th Street Spanish Harlem), 1962-63
Jan Yoors - Untitled (Wedding in Harlem), 1962-1963
Jan Yoors - Untitled (Wedding in Harlem), 1962-1963
Jan Yoors - Untitled (Sisters in rain, Coney Island), 1962
Jan Yoors - Untitled (Sisters in rain, Coney Island), 1962
Jan Yoors - Untitled (Rooftop, Spanish Harlem), 1963
Jan Yoors - Untitled (Rooftop, Spanish Harlem), 1963
Jan Yoors - Untitled (Boy at the police line), 1966
Jan Yoors - Untitled (Boy at the police line), 1966
Jan Yoors - Untitled (Coney Island), 1962
Jan Yoors - Untitled (Coney Island), 1962
Jan Yoors - Jan’s Woonwagen, 1936
Jan Yoors - Jan’s Woonwagen, 1936
Jan Yoors - Untitled (Man holding Children), c. 1967
Jan Yoors - Untitled (Man holding Children), c. 1967
Jan Yoors - Turkey, 1960
Jan Yoors - Turkey, 1960
Jan Yoors - Untitled (Yoors with Gypsies in Belgium), 1938
Jan Yoors - Untitled (Yoors with Gypsies in Belgium), 1938