James Jean’s art is surrealist, juxtaposed, small and grand, whilst simultaneously being at home within the most stylish of graphic novels. His art a colour-pedia of brightness that will have everyone fawning over it, before falling head first into the fantastical worlds that merge together psychedelic art, sci-fi and fantasy – whilst all being laced with a healthy dash of symbolism.
One of the most exciting pieces of Jean’s art is Gaia (2019) – a sculpture of stained-glass and steel panelling that represents the Greek Goddess Gaia (the personification of earth) – the panels wrapping to make an organic crystallised form that has elements of both art-deco with its geometric patterns, and art-nouveau with the model Gaia resembling figures by Alphonse Mucha. Around Gaia there’s also the recurring features from Jean’s other work such as the flower ‘heads’, wasp, butterfly, and the turtles – whose overstretched necks Gaia holds in her hands like wilted flowers or the bright starting’s of life (with the haloed heads resembling seeds), for historically turtles are the oldest symbol for earth. Is Gaia therefore looking at the damage done to her planet or bringing it its first life? Jean’s image being rife with symbolic messages. Not least forgetting the king of nature – the tiger as it proudly wanders through the frames, his features painted in the traditional style of the zodiac, with dragon-like eyes and nose. Even the colours Jean has chosen for Gaia seem representative – with its “earthen” shades of brown and yellow, whilst this range in tones allows the light to accentuate the details. The more you look, the more life you see and though you want to see it all at once, by having the art split into panels it guides you to walk around the stained-glass sculpture, experiencing a 360-degree world of Jean’s. The whole piece shines as a sculptural painting, becoming an outstanding piece of art to be preserved.
Gaia, 2019, Fused Glass, Lead, Steel, and Incandescent Bulb. James Jean.
Gaia, 2019. Flattened Perspective. James Jean.
Jean’s images are ever-changing, though throughout all of them there is a sense of dreams, emotions, and a passion to cram everything strange and special from life. There are motifs, underlying metaphors, inspirations of traditional art practices such as Chinese scroll-painting and Japanese woodblock printing. Non-naturalistic colours and non-conforming creatures tell of other-worldly dimensions and mythical tales. Confused by it all? You might be, but it’s a pleasant feeling in Jean’s art.
There’s also a similarity at times to Takashi Murakami’s style – Superflat; creatures that could have escaped from a manga or anime; flowers with faces; popular culture references (e.g. Pinocchio, Bugs Bunny); to Kawaii – a Japanese culture of the saccharinely cute. In Jean’s Gou Mang (2019) the image is laced in flowers, butterflies, big eyes, and bright colours of pink and orange, but it’s not until you look again that you see the girl is actually a butterfly herself, the bright colours that surround are in fact her wings, while the dragons that reach out from below (with their strikingly pink antlers) are also a part of the girl – a mutation even. The image appearing to change with every passing second, which is similar to much of Jean’s work; you can’t take for granted what seems true at first glance.
Gou Mang, 2019, Acrylic on Canvas. James Jean.
In looking over the years at Jean’s art you’ll see a range of movements, his constant experimentation leading to a new voice within each of them. His work moving through portraiture, realism (e.g. ESL 2012, Lily Aldridge, 2012), surrealism to an inclusion of inspirations and a range of mediums as well; acrylic and digital (Jean’s predominant mediums), ink, glass, oil and pumice, to murals even. Jean is an artist who’s not just remoulding art but constructing something fresh. The old and the new may be inspirations, but it’s his own imagination that’s at work.
