Biography

Jeroen Cremers (Reuver 1972) lives and works in Amsterdam. His artwork consists of drawings, which he then digitalizes and manipulates in a computer. Cremers uses different platforms to present his art to the public. His work can be seen on T-shirts, skateboards, bags, wall paintings, stickers, and so on, but also as pieces of art exhibited in a gallery of exhibition.

The fascination with drawings kan be traced back to Jeroen’s youth. As a child he loved to watch cartoons and could often be found reading one of his many comics. This fascination has never disappeared and only grew stronger throughout the years. It lead Jeroen to enroll in the Academy of Grafic Design in Eindhoven (NL) in 1992 and now forms the basis for his artwork.

Cremers graduates in 1996 and decides to begin a second study at the Art Academy of Maastricht (NL). During the four year study he has the opportunity to participate in three month an exchange program with Gray’s School of Art in Aberdeen, Scotland. In this period Cremers works three-dimensional. For his graduation project the artist creates ceramic statues inspired by the work of Hiëronymus Bosch.

After his graduation in 2000, Jeroen decides to stay in Maastricht. He receives a grant and becomes a member of the Sortionze Foundation which provides him with a studio. The artist becomes interested in new materials and experiments with wood, cardboard and polyester. The expressive imagery which characterizes his ceramic work, is slowly substituted by minimalist forms and straight lines. Cremers makes many drawings during this period, but only meant as sketches for his three-dimensional work.

Jeroen’s work keeps developing and the artist begins to design and build installations. He finds himself fascinated with the interaction between the viewer and the artwork. The emotions the public undergoes when confronted with an artwork are as important to Cremers as the artwork itself. This new insight forms the basis of Jeroen’s solo exhibition in 2004, named ‘Promised Land’, where he presents a series of installations combined with projections and drawings.

During his period in Maastricht, Jeroen is introduced to Yane Calovski, an artist/curator from Skopje, Macedonia. This encounter results in a shift in Cremers’ work. Yane stimulates Jeroen to focus more on his drawings. Up till now his drawings only played a supporting role in his artwork, but thanks to Yane, they start to stand on their own. In the beginning of 2005 drawings made by Jeroen are printed in D-Magazine, published by Calovski and presented during an exhibition at the Jan van Eyck Academy in Maastricht.

Shortly after this exhibition, Cremers moves to Amsterdam. The move causes the disappearance of the studio and subsequently his three-dimensional work. Jeroen realizes he needs nothing more than a piece of paper and a laptop to make his (digital) drawings. In the meantime he works as a set builder for popular Dutch television shows. At work his talent does not go unnoticed and Jeroen gets asked to do the shows graphic work more and more often.

Cremers’ website goes online in 2007, given his pseudonym ‘Trace Eneme’ (visit www.trace-eneme.com). Here we can admire his drawings on wall paintings and the T-shirts he has designed. Besides this, he is also taking part in an exhibition named ‘Quartair’, curated by Yane Calovski amounst others.