Artist testimonial: Julien Rey

Discover the impressions of French artist Julien Rey on his relationship with Carré d’artistes.

What did Carré d'artistes change for you, regarding your career as an artist ?

Almost everything.

When I didn’t know Carré d’artistes, I was working in audiovisual and was painting sometimes.
Since I started working with Carré d’artistes, I stopped my job and paint full time.

Thanks to them, I can make a better living out of my art and it motivates me to grow and get better.

I was lucky people like my art. They called on me, which encouraged me to be more rigorous and coherent.

Carré d’artistes noticed me on an art market in Saint-Remy de Provence, before I first started exhibiting in their gallery in Amsterdam.
My work was surprisingly quickly successful and Carré d’artistes supported me by offering a visibility worldwide.
I was seen and now known.

 

The two words that describe best this experience are :

Moreover, depending on the culture or country, people like different things: it’s interesting to adapt.

The event that marked me the most since working with Carré d’artistes is my first open studio in Amsterdam.

It was the first time I could meet the people who like my work.
In my workshop, I can’t see what people feel when in contact with my creations.
During this open studio, I realized what people really thought about my art.
This encouraged and motivated me!

That day, I signed an artwork for an old couple who bought their first painting ever.
I was moved to know that they liked my work so much they decided to buy art for the first time.

 
Moreover, my 30 paintings were sold in a week instead of a month.
This had never happened in this gallery before!

View the category of urban paintings 

For the short story, the gallery suggested I paint in colors, but I didn’t like the finish.
To me, as an achromat, red is dull compared to black and white, which are very contrasting.
My work was less qualitative with colors.
The gallery liked it though and asked me to send my paintings.

In fact, I only sent them my work in black and white because I felt it would work.
It was like setting myself a challenge.

In the end, I was the only artist with non-colored artworks: that’s what made the difference!
 

Julien Rey says it himself: he trained “self-taught, integrating and taking inspiration from various cultures, through [his] discoveries”.
A great traveler, the French artist developed work that was heavily influenced by Asian culture.
Marked by the Zen philosophy and with a desire for refinement and simplicity, he produces minimal compositions that appear like suspended moments, poetic breaks in the middle of the surrounding disorder.