The Expanded Photographic Practice of Daniel Jean-Jules
In an era when the basic structures of our existence are rapidly changing, shaped by cyberspace, digitalisation, global internet and the latent danger of humanity itself becoming an obsolete notion, when artists like spectators, fall, one after the other, for the perfect veneer of the virtual surface, Daniel Jean-Jules counts as one of the exceptional artists who refuse to be taken in by the potential of technology. His ideas develop cognitively, not digitally. He deploys predetermined breaking points and irritations as part of his strategy to counter the growing automation of humanity and to maintain an upper hand on technology through analog experiments between abstraction and pictorial presence. In this aspect, he echoes Vilém Flusser's plea for a new philosophy of photography whose importance consists in being "the only form of revolution still open to us".
Be it through media productions, videos, experimental photographic technics, objects, collages or painting. Jean-Jules never stops short of casting the big existential questions like how do we construct ourselves? How do we apprehend the world presented to us? How have our perceptual and representational schema developed? Rarely have other artists of his generation managed to enchant, confound and leave us so deeply astonished as he. We can attribute this to his remarkable imagination combined with an ability to conjure images which impress themselves indelibly into our memories. With suspense and an essential subtlety, he cultivates an energy, occasionally provoking, often irritating and always enigmatic, which attracts us through its refusal of overarching explanations.
text passage by Eva Schicker M.A.
COMPOSITION #25 2023 acrylic and shellac on wood panel 60x60cm
SKY BOY 2022 acrylic and shellac on wood panel 50x60cm
MARQUEE 2023 digital collage
MANDALA 2023 acrylic on wood panel 60x60cm
COMPOSITION #32 2023 digital collage
MIZUKI 2021 collage and silk screen on cardboard print 40x30cm
Video
In the video work created in 2017, titled Phenomena, one sees colors flowing into one another and in addition to various noises such as streaming, and gurgling liquids, one hears the voice of London-based performer Thomas Warham. The text is based on testimonials from near-death patients that I found during my research. I attempted to visualize the text without illustrating it. Phenomena deals, among other things, with the inseparability of all things and living beings.
CV
1977
born as Daniel Sabranski in Cologne, Germany
1997-1999
photo assistance, Cologne
2000 - 2001
residency in San Francisco, CA/USA
2002-2008
studies of fine arts at University of Arts Berlin/Germany
2008
Master Student of Prof. Christiane Möbus UdK/University of Arts, Berlin, Germany
Solo Shows
2017
Phenomena/Kunstverein Kohlenhof, Nürnberg
2014
Kaleidoskop/VIDEOworkCASE, Nürnberg
2009
Immatéreaux/Berlin - Raum für Zeitgenössische Kunst, Dresden
2007
Velvet/Galerie Gillian Morris, Berlin
2006
20 Non-Existing Artists/Galerie Tornado am Ostkreuz, Berlin Disappearance/Areal 28/Galerie Lücke und Partner
2008-2010
studio at auf AEG, Nürnberg, Germany
2011
studio in Cologne, Germany
2018
marriage and change of name to Daniel Jean-Jules
2021
move to México
Group Shows
2021
Green is Hope, but is it the Future? Kunstverein Kohlenhof/RathhausArt, Nürnberg
2017
Capri by Night/video screening for the public space/Schauspiel, Köln
2016
Étre et À Voir/Musée d' Art Moderne et Contemporain, Strasbourg
2014
After Post Intellectualism/Lithos, Köln
Männer und Frauen/Jagla Ausstellungsraum, Köln
2012
20 Non-Existing Artists & 99 Beautiful (with Tessa Knapp)/Pop Up Kalk, Köln
2011
Barcelona Showcase/Casa Batlló, Barcelona
2010
Parallax/Barlow Fine Art, London
2009
Ich Bin Kunst/Kohlenhof, Nürnberg
Perspektiven Des Substitut/Centre D'Art Neuchâtel
Galerie Der Besten -Bundeswettbewerb Des BMBF/Bundeskunsthalle,
Bonn KunstpreisLangwasser, Nürnberg
2008
En Berline!... Ou Le Choix De Jean Mairet/Galerie LA Bank, Paris
Something To Answer For/Wiensowski & Harbord, Berlin
Festival Brigade Des Images Paris
Vienna Fair/Galerie Gillian Morris, Vienna
2007
Contravision Filmfestival, Berlin
2006
Möbius Schleife/Haus am Kleistpark, Berlin
Kunstsalon (Fair)/Galerie Lücke und Partner, Berlin
2005
Contemporary Fine Art/Galerie Claudius, Hamburg
Muse Heute ?/Städtische Galerie Im Bunten Tor, Bremen
Filmkanal /Asperger Gallery, Berlin
Top 10 /Estonian Art Academy Gallery, Tallinn
2004
Oskar Wilde Festival /Brotfabrik, Berlin
2003
Poesiefestival/Backfabrik