From May 24—29, 2022, Gallery Getrude will present Salut!, a solo show by Jean Jullien in New York City created in conjunction with his eponymous debut monograph published by Phaidon Books. On the heels of multiple international exhibitions for the Paris-based artist, Jullien continues his portrayals of everyday life, through depictions of coastal and countryside landscapes, with a dichotomy of familial moments and solitary introspective scenes. An opening reception will be held at Gertrude’s pop-up location at 2 Rivington Street in NYC on May 24, 2022 from 6—8pm.
Where his paintings seem observational and at peace with nature and the world around him, Jullien’s work is unmistakable and bustling with life. He makes work that touches on surf, beach and coastal nature that is both an exploration of our uncanny need to be outdoors but also a return to life as normal. Familes are together on the beach, surfing gives a sense of freedom, the green pastures near the coast look lush and unkempt-ly perfect. It's romantic, and it's ideal.
What is rare, and what Jullien’s monograph portrays, is that his work is a constant conversation with the universal feeling of being alive and an awareness of our uncertain and complicated times. What made him internationally renowned were his illustrations, both commercial and personal, shared through social media but in a language that spoke to our collective experience. Jullien was one of the first artists to use social media like a daily journal, witty and bold, a constant comic-style approach that was about finding ways to combine fine art and illustration. When he began his career as an exhibiting painter and installation artist, he found a way to create looser and more personal works, observational at its core but also about the ways Jullien was finding his life change as he got older. There was an appreciation for the mundane that wasn’t about a storyboard, but about the human experience around family and friends. Through his exhibitions, Jullien has begun to blur the lines, with his sculptures taking the role of his illustration style juxtaposed with his calm paintings. The results continue to create one of the great journeys in art over the past 10 years, watching Jullien rewrite the rule books of how a career can be seemingly in any genre he wants.
Gallery Gertrude will present a new series of paintings created as the world began to reopen from a global pandemic, both reassuring that life could return to normal and yet still a bit of uncertainty in the air. It’s the perfect amalgamation of his monograph; nuances that are timeless, feelings that may seem fleeting but longed to be lived forever and a place where humor can exist with our longing for connection. —Evan Pricco
SALUT!
A Solo Exhibition by Jean Jullien
Gallery Gertrude, 2 Rivington, NYC
Exhibition Dates: May 25—29, 2022
Opening reception: May 24, 2022, 6—8pm
