Biography

Jan Gulfoss van Naeltwijck, artist and explorer is born in Holland on November 14 1957.

Fascinated by nature from an early age, Gulfoss developed a particular interest in birds. He expressed this in his painting, and he also recorded the spectrum of sound reflected in their song.

At the age of sixteen, he moved to the South of France, where he studied Law and Art in Nice. He exhibited his drawings at the Biénnalle de la Jeune Peinture Méditerranéenne and was awarded a prize. It was during this period, that he expanded his artistic experiences, by meeting the following artists: César, Arman, Poumeyrol, Christo as well as Peter Greenaway.

Then starts a long period of artistic and scientific research and explorations.

He studies in natural history museums, zoo's and one of the main sources of inspiration for his work has been the Musée Océonagraphique of Monaco, which he first visited in 1974 and which he regards as being his 'second studio.' 

At the same time, Jan started to explore new evolving technologies, with a view to integrating these into his creative work. Working with 3D applications, and a range of sound frequencies, he began to create photographic compositions of animals, and various other objects, staged in theatrical settings.

One area that has particularly interested him, over the years, has been Time. By making a series of drawings on decomposing fruit and animals, he was able to develop these further into a series of videos illustrating visually, the concept of Time.

In 2007 his studio in St. Rémy de Provence, burned down completely, and all of his body of creative work and research was lost.  This life changing event, provided the impetus to start afresh, by igniting within him, a creative spark which would lead him on an epic voyage of discovery, inspired by the great explorers of earlier centuries. 

Driving his Lotus car, Gulfoss began a remarkable journey, which was to take him from Iceland's volcanic glaciers to hidden monasteries in Bhutan, from the Arctic Circle to Tasmania.  At each location, filming as well as recording, he studied contrasting sounds and their frequencies - from the absolute silence of desert locations to the songs of whales resonating from the oceans, from the sounds of exotic, tropical birds to the mystical chants of Buddhist monks. One special highlight was performing on a didgeridoo, with native Aborigines.

Other areas of Jan's creative output have included contributions to musical performance and composition, cinema, theatre as well as the publication of several books. Gulfoss exhibits worldwide since 1981. 

Gulfoss's latest exhibition "After the Fire," was mounted in summer 2014 at the Chapel Notre Dame de Pitié in Saint Rémy de Provence.

 RECENT EXHIBITIONS

2020 ....................................................................................................................

Sound of Silence - Galerie Daltra- Megève, France Déc. 2020 - Janvier 2021

Château des Alpilles - Saint Rémy de Provence, France Juillet-Décembre 2020

5 à la Chapelle - Saint Rémy de Provence, France Août-septembre 2020

Gallery Elle - Saint Moritz, Suisse Suvretta House Décembre 2019-Mars 2020

Galerie Daltra- Megève, France HORIZONS Décembre 2019-Avril 2020

2019.....................................................................................................................

Galerie Daltra - Megève - France

Gallery  Elle - Zürich - Switzerland 

SKYFALL exhibition from Nov-May 2019

Claude Cartier - Lyon - France --->

2018 ....................................................................................................................

Galerie Daltra - Megève - France

CD "Where the Swallows Sleep"

BOOK  "un Monde plus Silencieux"

Galerie Elle - Zürich - Switzerland 

DIVINE FIRE exhibition from Apr-AugusGalerie Art Passions Geneva -Switzerland end of May-July

 2017 ____________________________________________________________

NAGallery-Dassault Paris  May-July 2017

la-photographie-galerie Bruxelles en permanence

Deco&Beyond - Monaco du 28 septembre au 24 novembre 2017

Beetles+Huxley Gallery-London-GB