Born in 1940 in Bruxelles, he’s one of the fathers of contemporary Belgian comic.
After many years as an illustrator for educational books, he begins his career in the comics world with a short story on alternative magazine “Amènophis”, followed by books published since 1982 by Futuropolis (La Colaxa, Foutue Croisiëre, Le mal de l’espace, Musique de nuit).
He developes his great interest in jazz music in a sequence of works dedicated to performers as Thelonius Monk and Charles Mingus.
Thanks to his black and white pictorial line, Joos is able to translate to paper the mood and the beat of afro-american music, the smokey ambient of jazz clubs, the speed of improvisation, creating portraits that are moreover tales about music.
Since 1992 he has been illustrating books for childhood. His first work in this field, Escale (written by Rascal), was rewarded with the prestigeful Bologna Ragazzi Award, during Children’s Book Fair here in Bologna.
He’s now working on two books about jazz performers John Coltrane and Louis Armstrong, and on another book about Charles Mingus.
He also teaches at Boitsfort Art School in Bruxelles.
His works, never seen before in Italy, are being shown thanks to an exhibition in Museo della Musica, realized in collaboration with Communauté Française de Belgique-Wallonie-Bruxelles.
Joos’ drawings and pictures are going to be put in relation with the permanent collection of the museum, the ancient musical instruments and the scores: a way to think about comparison between visual arts and music.