Jimi Dams

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Jimi Dams (born June 1963) is a Belgian‑American contemporary artist. He began drawing as a child and studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp before moving to Brussels to continue his training. He worked with Belgian minimalist Luc Claus and graduated summa cum laude in 1984.

Early life
Dams started drawing at a young age. He studied art in Belgium and gained early experience with established artists, which shaped his move into more experimental work.

Career
From 1986 to 1990, Dams held his first solo show, PunkMe in Antwerp, featuring linocut portraits inspired by his life in the underground punk scene. Influenced by dancer Michael Clark, he began exploring movement as a central theme, with a 1987 series featuring Clark shown in MOve at Harrods, London. By 1988 his work expanded to drawings, murals, and installations, and he started collaborating with artists from different disciplines, including writer Tom Lanoye on Cocktale and collaborations with Peter Verhelst, Amanda Lear, Dennis Cooper, Joshua Compston, and Devon Dikeou. His first book, 78 Linos, was published in 1990.

From 1990 to 2004, Dams continued to exhibit across Europe and beyond. A 1991 RTBF documentary profiled his work. After the 1993 LR.Lear exhibition at Galérie Oz in Paris, he was represented by galleries in New York, Amsterdam, Ghent, and more. An ANP exhibition at S&H De Buck in Ghent in 1997 was featured on Belgian television, and Studio Brussel aired an interview that year. From 1991 onward, his work has been shown in museums and galleries across Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, the United States, and China.

Envoy Enterprises
In 2005, Dams opened envoy enterprises, an independent contemporary art space in Manhattan. In 2007, the gallery moved from Chelsea to the Lower East Side, becoming one of the first to relocate there. In June 2017, reports noted the closing of envoy enterprises’ exhibition space. Dams spoke about his dissatisfaction with how the art world was evolving and indicated that the exhibition program would return in a different form. envoy enterprises continues to represent artists from its 87 Rivington Street location.