Ivonne Jacob

ARTIST

BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA

Meet Ivonne - an Uruguayan native who moved to Buenos Aires in 1974 and began pursuing a career in art in 1985. Since then, Ivonne has exhibited her work all around Argentina and in Uruguay, the United States, Belgium, Sweden, and Spain. She is known for her use of mixed-media, mixing different materials such as paper, nets, coffee grounds, and clay into each of her works.

Fun fact: Ivonne is also a close friend of our founder Lauren, who lived with Ivonne in Buenos Aires many years ago.

Follow Ivonne here.

1. WHAT BROUGHT YOU TO BUENOS AIRES? WHAT CONTINUES TO INSPIRE YOU ABOUT THIS CITY?

Love brought me to Argentina because I got married to a native in 1974. Buenos Aires offers you a very rich cultural life: museums, concerts, bookstores, theaters (a lot of them and different styles), clubs, etc. You can find a lot of night activities at the great bars around the city or top restaurants with food from all over the world. Buenos Aires never sleeps… you go to bed very late! I like very much all kinds of  different architectures, and when you walk around Buenos Aires, you feel how the atmosphere changes. It’s a very dynamic place; you can find peaceful and silent moments amidst this city that can feel huge, crowded, sometimes crazy.

2. WHAT WERE YOU DOING BEFORE YOU DECIDED TO PURSUE A CAREER IN ART? DO YOU REMEMBER THE MOMENT YOU MADE THE DECISION TO FOLLOW YOUR PASSION?

I was a mother, taking care of my son Alejandro  and my daughter Gabriela. I didn’t work at that time in any other activity. I was studying Landscape Architecture to design gardens and terraces. In the year 1985, a friend invited me to take a painted furniture course. At the beginning I refused, I told her I didn’t know how to draw. She insisted and kept saying, “Come with me! We’re going to have fun spending time together.” That was the beginning of was a huge discovery in art that changed my life.  

3. CAN YOU TELL US HOW YOU KNOW LAUREN, OUR FOUNDER?

Lauren came to BA with International Studies Abroad as a foreign exchange student and I was her home hostess! We had such a wonderful time from the beginning.

4. DO YOU HAVE ANY ARTISTIC INFLUENCES?

When you study, you begin to like some artists in different artistic disciplines. I started with naive art: periods of informalism, abstract, geometric, minimalism, etc. But I sought to find my own style because I like to do things that are special and different. I like textures that remind me of Nature, to construct and transform materials that stimulate perceptions, to penetrate very deep in peoples’ souls. To me art is a different way of looking at life.

5. DO YOU HAVE A MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT IN A GALLERY OPENING?

Once I was showing my art pieces in Uruguay and all of a sudden, as a surprise, my best childhood friend came with her mother. They had read it in the newspaper and traveled 200  miles to see me.

6. YOU HAVE EXHIBITED YOUR WORK IN MANY COUNTRIES AROUND THE WORLD. WHERE IS SOMEWHERE YOU HAVEN’T BEEN BUT ALWAYS WANTED TO GO?

I would like to exhibit in Berlin, Germany. Also in  New York or Washington, DC because I did not travel around when I’d exhibited there. But also why not LA, San Francisco, or anyplace just because it’s an enriching experience? I like to travel to know other cultures. Travel and art are the best investment to me.