Joost Knipping
Tostiej a.k.a. Joost Knipping (1994) is a Dutch artist based in The Hague. His art focusses on abstract paintings in the neo-expressionism traditions, and is inspired by his art heroes Basquiat, Banksy, Pablo Picasso and A.R. Penck.
Works by Tostiej are characterized as a balance between chaos and power. Each piece is unique in its own way by form, color and composition. Throughout his process of making art, he is constantly challenged by his emotions to find the right balance on his canvas to express himself.
For Tostiej: “his inner self decides how his body and mind reacts on the canvas. It’s always a battle with his pencil, emotions and perceptions to make the right decisions while moving spontaneously to the finish line.”
Joost considers himself as a young multifunctional and flexible artist. He finds his inspiration in “differences”, things what he does not understand but feels highly attractive to. Especially non-Western cultures such as: African, Asian & South American cultures. These cultures are known for their extensive amount of empowerment, color, expression and liveliness which gives Joost a boost of inspiration to express him in different creative ways.
He is making his art at home in his atelier what he shares with his mother, Patricia Knipping-Röst a.k.a Patrice. Tostiej works by the RRR-method, in other words: the Re-use, Re-duce & Re-cycle method. What it means is, instead of buying and consuming new things (such as a new canvas or new paint and pencils) he finds his canvasses on the street, that he calls Wall art and buys his paint and pencils trough second hand stores instead of buying new ones. And the goal of this method is to create upcycling art.
Tostiej has just started showing his artists to the world. In 2022 he has exhibited at “The Rolling Art Show” in Amsterdam and at “TheOpen Atelier Route” in Wateringen.
But now, fore 2023, he wants to show his creations to the world even more! He starts this year with a duo-exhibition (with artist Patrice) in the Hofboerderij in Wateringen throughout the month of April!
Joost continues to experiment with new art styles and discover new methods and forms of expressing himself trough art.