Artist: Jules de Balincourt

In this new body of work, the Brooklyn-based artist continues his exploration of painting as an intuitive process, resulting in fantasy-like worlds in which landscapes and seascapes become sites of possibility and escape. The exhibition is accompanied by an essay by Bob Nickas, who considers these new paintings in the context of the themes and motifs that have preoccupied the artist over the past two decades.

‘Although all these works are contemporary, these images register as archetypal. It’s no surprise, then, that de Balincourt keeps coming back to a dispersed tribe drawn to similar settings as if by gravitational pull, in parallel to the power of recurring dreams. There is something the artist believes in, which may be what he seeks, as most of us do: community, shared purpose, a sense of connection to one another and to the natural world.’ – Bob Nickas

Jules de Balincourt’s paintings are states of mind rather than descriptions of reality. Rather than rely on sketch, photography, or direct reference, the artist’s process initially involves him building up many translucent layers of paint, working from abstraction into a figurative depiction. In these ambiguous, evocative spaces, where figures seem to be in perpetual motion, one senses the movement of an ever-changing, volatile world. At times, landscapes and figures start to break down into more abstract imagery, retaining figurative elements that allude to meditation or escape from our reality.

About the artist

Jules de Balincourt, born in Paris, France in 1972, lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. De Balincourt’s work has been the subject of a number of international solo exhibitions at institutions including Centro de Arte Contemporáneo, Málaga, Spain (2021); Kasseler Kunstverein, Kassel, Germany (2015); The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Texas, USA (2014–2015); Rochechouart Museum of Contemporary Art, Rochechouart, France (2014); Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal, USA (2013); Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan (2010) and Vanderbilt University Fine Arts Gallery, Nashville, USA (2008).

De Balincourt’s work has also been included in a number of significant group exhibitions, including Unnatural Nature: Post-Pop Landscapes, Acquavella Galleries, Florida, USA (2022); Rehang, Collezione Maramotti, Reggio Emilia, Italy (2019–ongoing); Les Enfants du Paradis, MUba Eugene Leroy Tourcoing, France (2019) and Eldorama, Le Tripostal, Lille, France (2019) both as part of Eldorado: Lille 3000 (2019); The Biennial of Painting, Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens (MDD), Deurle, Belgium (2018); The New Frontiers of Painting, Fondazione Stelline, Milan, Italy (2017); The Universe and Art, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan (2016); L’Ange de l’Histoire, curated by Nicolas Bourriaud at le Palais des Beaux-Arts, Paris, France (2013); New York Minute, Garage Center for Contemporary Culture, Moscow, Russia (2011) and the 10th Havana Biennial, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Havana, Cuba (2009).

Works by the artist are included in the collections of Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, New York, USA; Collezione Maramotti, Reggio Emilia, Italy; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, USA; MaRT, Museo di arte moderna e contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto, Rovereto, Italy; Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal, Canada; Musée départemental d'art contemporain de Rochechouart, Rochechouart, France; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Portland Art Museum, Portland, ME, USA, among others.