Jonathan Monk (born 1969, in

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

, UK) is an artist living and working in Berlin.

Life and career

Art practice

Monk questions the meaning of art using conceptualism in a way that Ken Johnson in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' called "sweet, wry and poetic". Monk's work frequently questions (if not outright undermines) the art world's conventional means of controlling contemporary art's distribution and value. One example was when he gave an artist's talk for the

Dia Art Foundation Dia Art Foundation is a nonprofit organization that initiates, supports, presents, and preserves art projects. It was established in 1974 by Philippa de Menil, the daughter of Houston arts patron Dominique de Ménil, Dominique de Menil and an h ...

in 2014 and arranged for every attendee to receive a free Jonathan Monk collage, each of which had been placed on the venue's seating beforehand. Another example is the series ''Receipt Drawings'' in which he goes out to dinner and makes an original drawing on the receipt, which he then sells to the first bidder on his Instagram account for the price of the meal. In an interview with David Shrigley, Monk says: "Is it or is it not or can it or can it not be? This is something that has been dealt with within the art world for some time and I guess the unanswerable question keeps us all going..."

Art works

2010

"Diecimila" - Facsimile produced and published b
mfc-michèle didier
Brussels

2007

"Deadman", selected for the

Renaissance Society The Renaissance Society, founded in 1915, is a leading independent contemporary art museum located on the campus of the University of Chicago, with a focus on the commissioning and production of new works by international artists. The kunsthalle- ...

's 2007 group show, "Meanwhile, In Baghdad...""Meanwhile, In Baghdad..." at the Renaissance Society

References

External sources

Lisson Gallery
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Dvir Gallery
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Frieze Magazine
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Living people 1969 births English contemporary artists {{England-artist-stub