Artist Info
Jeff de Boer
Jeff de Boer is a Calgary-based multi-media artist with a distinctive practice in metalwork. His practice initially took inspiration from his father’s profession as a tinsmith, which was followed by his first suit of armour made while still in high school. Subsequently this multi-faceted artist has earned an international reputation for his public artworks. In addition, his work includes playful museum-quality suits of armour for cats and mice, as well as other objects including: armour ties for executives, space art and an abstract series titled Exoforms, based on primitive life forms.
de Boer graduated from Alberta College of Art + Design (1988), where he majored in jewellery design. A year later, he established himself as a professional artist with the ability to craft armour in Tudor, Mongolian and Samurai styles. In 1994, de Boer presented 140 works in a solo exhibition titled Articulation (Muttart Gallery, Calgary AB). Travelling for two years around western Canada, Articulation finished its tour in Vancouver, BC (1996). On a much larger and even monumental scale are de Boer’s public works, creating metal sculptures such as a barbed wire bucking bronco (Glenbow Museum, Calgary, AB), kinetic wind-up tin toys (Calgary International Airport) and sculptures incorporating LED technologies.
Since 1996, he has instructed in the Jewellery Department at the Alberta College of Art + Design. In 2012, de Boer delivered a workshop “Art, Technology and Business”, in Beijing, China. A year later, the artist founded The League of Extraordinary Makers (LEXM) Guild, a collaborative organization of like-minded individuals who have a mission to change culture through art, industry, and technology.
