He’s conquering Instagram users with his art: Jean Jullien in Brussels at Alice Gallery

Jean Jullien has 1 million followers on Instagram. How many of them do you think live in Brussels?

For his first exhibition at Alice Gallery’s ‘Encore’ space, the French artist and graphic designer Jean Jullien presents a series of paintings on canvas called “The Yellow Shutter” on the theme of ‘(de)framing’.

Either with or without a character in the foreground, you discover a landscape from a window. The scene takes place in a restaurant overlooking the harbour, or in an office overlooking the city. It’s a poem from the spectator’s point of view, a poem of a wider frame that unveils a filter between two worlds, a looking game between you and the subject of the canvas.

What is touching in Jean Jullien’s paintings is the elegance of the idea and the simplicity of its plastic expression. Without even being aware of it, you have stimulated your best defense against today’s galloping stupidity: the framing effect that limits your vision of the world. Here, it’s the zoom out in the image that enriches the interpretation of the subject.

Now that your neurons are buzzing, here is the answer to the riddle. Out of 7 billion humans, one in 7,000 follows Jean Jullien on Instagram. That means that out of the 1,200,000 inhabitants of Brussels, 171 follow the artist.

Biography

Jean Jullien is a French graphic artist living and working in London.

Originally from Nantes, Jean completed a graphic design degree in Quimper before moving to London. He has since graduated from Central Saint Martins (2008) and from the Royal College of Art (2010). His practice ranges from illustration to photography, video, costume, installations, books, posters and clothing to create a coherent yet eclectic body of work.

Jean has shown work around the world with galleries in Paris, London, Los Angeles, New York, Berlin, Tokyo, Seoul, Bangkok and beyond. He will open shows in Hong Kong and San Francisco in Summer 2018.

He has worked with hundreds of clients including New York Times, New Yorker, The Guardian, Beams, RCA Records, The Connaught, Colette, SZ Magazin, National Geographic, Le Grand Palais, Le Centre Pompidou, Amnesty International, Esquire, Le Coq Sportif, Le Bon Marché, Hermès, Mr. Porter, Champion USA, Salomon, Petit Bateau, Vogue and many more.

Jean has also published numerous books with acclaimed houses including Phaidon, Walker Book, Comme des Géants and Hato Press. In 2016, he published his first monograph with teNeues. His forthcoming children’s book, Why the Face, is due out with Phaidon in Autumn 2018. He is represented in the UK by the Wylie Agency.

In 2011, Jean and his brother Nico founded Jullien Brothers, a duo specialized in moving image. For more information, go to: jullienbrothers.com

In 2012, he created News of the Times with Yann Le Bec and Gwendal Le Bec.

In 2016, Jean launched Nounou with Jae Huh, a Korea-based label producing a wide range of items including clothing, graphic objects, rugs and dolls. For more information on the latest collection, go to: nounou.kr