Armel Jullien

Armel Jullien’s canvases are inspired by the rural area of Haute Loire, which the painter has called home for over twenty years. His subjects are often the farmers of his region, their animals, and the landscapes that surround them. His canvases evoke the inherent tensions of this life, which could be described as timeless if it were not so endangered. The relationships between farmers and animals are often at the heart of the paintings, navigating between power struggles and tenderness.

In contrast to, or as a counterpoint to, these very down-to-earth subjects evoked in his highly realistic style, Armel Jullien also delivers a share of imagination, mystery, or fiction into his canvases. Thus, after a series of paintings depicting old tractors, faithful partners in the hard daily labor, a tiger or fire breather may make an appearance in a painting.

This self-taught painter demonstrates a love for his medium: his brushstrokes are uninhibited and generous, his colors vivid and rich. All of this brings an almost tactile, penetrable dimension to his paintings that unquestionably surpass photographic realism.

Armel Jullien delights the viewer not only with a brilliantly executed canvas but with a nuanced interpretation of his subject.