Julien Saudubray, born 1985 in Paris, lives and works in Brussels, Belgium. The artist holds a Diplôme National Supérieur d'Expression Plastique from the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux Arts de Paris. His recent exhibitions include Pion Soleil at COB Gallery in London and VOIR DOUBLE  at Anna Zorina Gallery in LA. The solo exhibition fake flowers don’t fade features a new work series consisting of paintings and drawings at JVDW gallery in Düsseldorf. 

It is human nature wanting to specify and categorise an unknown object that may not be explicitly figurative but evoke certain associations. Thus, the shapes in Julien Saudubray's works resemble body parts, eyes, or flowers. The view of the individual elements that make up these shapes is reminiscent of organisms and the cells of a body. In fact, the artist himself describes his work as an evolving body or organism. Detached from an initial idea and free from an applied figurative concept, his works emerge through a process akin to an empirical study, based on deliberate repetition and color layering. Through this method, the forms gradually separate from the background, eventually growing beyond the canvas' boundaries and appearing to breathe the surrounding air. 

The contradictory nature of things, struggle, and failure play a crucial role in Julien Saudubray's work and are reflected in his technique. Fascinated by opposites, he uses materials with compositions that repel each other, mixing water-based acrylic paint and oil paint. He thus deliberately interrupts his own subjectivity and control, creating a kind of physical accident that causes him to discover new possible directions for his paintings. In addition, the mix of these materials makes the layers appear transparent, revealing the different steps and stages of the painting process. 

Led by the idea of fighting gravity with something that grows, not only is one of his series called Growing, but also the title of his exhibition alludes to a blooming object. While flowers have always been present in art history, Julien Saudubray's interest lies in their dynamic, growing aspect and the concept of reproduction, similar to the aforementioned cells in the human body. fake flowers don’t fade challenges to question one's own perceptions and allow for associations, while raising philosophical questions about reality and artificiality by asking whether the flower on the canvas might possess a greater sense of reality compared to its living counterpart – as it endures while the natural flower withers and perishes.

– Amira Hartmann

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Julien Saudubray, born 1985 in Paris, lives and works in Brussels, Belgium. The artist holds a Diplôme National Supérieur d'Expression Plastique from the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux Arts de Paris. His recent exhibitions include Pion Soleil at COB Gallery in London and VOIR DOUBLE  at Anna Zorina Gallery in LA. The solo exhibition fake flowers don’t fade  features a new work series consisting of paintings and drawings at JVDW gallery in Düsseldorf.

It is human nature wanting to specify and categorise an unknown object that may not be explicitly figurative but evoke certain associations. Thus, the shapes in Julien Saudubray's works resemble body parts, eyes, or flowers. The view of the individual elements that make up these shapes is reminiscent of organisms and the cells of a body. In fact, the artist himself describes his work as an evolving body or organism. Detached from an initial idea and free from an applied figurative concept, his works emerge through a process akin to an empirical study, based on deliberate repetition and color layering. Through this method, the forms gradually separate from the background, eventually growing beyond the canvas' boundaries and appearing to breathe the surrounding air.

The contradictory nature of things, struggle, and failure play a crucial role in Julien Saudubray's work and are reflected in his technique. Fascinated by opposites, he uses materials with compositions that repel each other, mixing water-based acrylic paint and oil paint. He thus deliberately interrupts his own subjectivity and control, creating a kind of physical accident that causes him to discover new possible directions for his paintings. In addition, the mix of these materials makes the layers appear transparent, revealing the different steps and stages of the painting process.

Led by the idea of fighting gravity with something that grows, not only is one of his series called Growing, but also the title of his exhibition alludes to a blooming object. While flowers have always been present in art history, Julien Saudubray's interest lies in their dynamic, growing aspect and the concept of reproduction, similar to the aforementioned cells in the human body. fake flowers don’t fade challenges to question one's own perceptions and allow for associations, while raising philosophical questions about reality and artificiality by asking whether the flower on the canvas might possess a greater sense of reality compared to its living counterpart – as it endures while the natural flower withers and perishes.

– Amira Hartmann

Request Worklist

Back to exhibitions