Jaco Roux is regarded as a landscape painter albeit not in the most traditional sense. His paintings convey a juxtaposition of two landscapes: one portraying a literal and figurative landscapes while the other more abstract utilizing colours and texture.
In “Splitting the view”, Roux is resisting the typical picturesque moment, instead pushing landscape painting further by conveying the feelings the scenery evokes within him while also appreciating the scenery itself.
Born in South Africa in 1962, Jaco attended the University of Pretoria in 1984, where he completed a BA in Fine Arts. In 2004, Jaco opened his own gallery in Rovinj Croatia. Roux divides his time between farming subtropical plants in Louis Trichardt and Croatia, drawing inspiration from the terrain of the Limpopo region and Croatia.
“I had a farm in Africa … where the views were immensely wide. Everything that you saw made for greatness and freedom, and unequally nobility … you woke up in the morning and thought: Here I am, where I ought to be”. Isak Dinesen’s 1937 novel Out of Africa. This seems a fitting description of Jaco’s landscapes.
Since then, he has exhibited his paintings in many locations around the world including South Africa, Switzerland, Ireland, UK, and Croatia.