Jonah

Jonah Strub is a Toronto-based sculptor, painter, and ceramicist. Jonah graduated with a BA in Studio Art from the University of Guelph, and in 2019 he completed his degree abroad at the Hochschule für Künste in Bremen, Germany. Jonah has participated in the 2023 Winter Emerging Artist in Residence at the Banff Centre in Banff, Alberta, and was awarded an UNTAPPED Emerging Artist exhibition space at The Artist Project 2023 in Toronto. He has exhibited at institutions across Canada and internationally such as The Canadian Clay and Glass Museum in Waterloo, ON, The Banff Centre in Banff, AB, The Plumb in Toronto, ON, Black Book Gallery in Denver, CO, and Kunstpunkt Gallery in Berlin, Germany. 

Through sculptural handbuilding techniques and ornate underglazed surfaces that channel his painting background, Jonah intends to project joy and playfulness through his work. His artwork is a visual love letter to the aesthetics of camp, kitsch, musical theatre, Yiddish humour, and drag. His inspirations often derive from strong Jewish women, theatrical costumes and patterns, toys, and the queer Jewish sensibilities of tasteless tchotchkes. Many of his pieces resemble toys and can be interacted with, often inviting the viewer to engage with and activate the clay characters’ personalities and stories. By using humour, bright colours, animal prints, and silly creatures, Jonah highlights the joys of Matzo ball-flavoured femininity, effervescent queerness, charismatic characters, the beauty of bric-a-brac, and the opulence of outrageous up-dos. 

@vicksvapostrub
https://www.jonahstrub.com/