(^50) | APRIL 2016
VERY MORNING, JEAN JULLIEN WAKES
up, drinks coffee, grabs his brush-pen,
draws, and within minutes, is sharing
his moods and opinions of the day with
nearly half a million Instagram fans. After
the Paris terrorist attacks of November
2015, it took a shaken Jean few seconds
to draw in his sketchbook one of the most
powerful and iconic symbols of peace in
recent decades.
Jullien draws very fast. Fast doesn’t mean rushed; the rush
happens in his head. He never stops thinking about how
he is going to communicate his next visual challenge. It’s
no wonder why it took a recorded, sit-down interview in
Brooklyn a year ago, and twelve rounds of emails over the
course of six months to finish this conversation.
Kimou “Grotesk” Meyer: You seem more busy than ever.
I have been trying to get in touch with you for more than
a week!
Jean Jullien: I've been in France for back-to-back meetings!
We're doing a short film and music video with my brother.
I'm also doing a series of illustrations for a hotel in Austria
that is employing refugees (a really nice project), another
series for a furniture company, a book with Phaidon, my
first monograph with teNeues, a great new project for a
huge clothing company, something for Uniqlo on Oxford
Street in London, a series with Only NY, a big project with
the Aéroport de Paris, and a cool object with Case Studyo.
That's for this week, but I'm also hoping to start my weekly
column for SZ Magazine...
Whoa! I guess that’s what you call a busy man. I am
amazed by the variety of projects and clients that you
have and can handle at the same time. It looks like your
universal language reached a point where brands, non-
profits, newspapers, and just overall clientele want your
point of view, more than you executing their brief. Would
you agree with that?
Yes, in a way. Which is very exciting, since my work's always
been about communication and exchange. I've always used
drawing to express myself as a visual language. That's why I
post so many topical things, alongside more trivial drawings
of cats and dogs, of course, to start a conversation with
people, to see what they think, and to discuss. I'm a firm
believer in conversation and communication as a means to
improve our world. Social media is a great opportunity to
debate and share opinions, and drawing adds a universal
legibility that goes beyond written or spoken language.
I think that is maybe why people are, as you said, are
interested in my visual language. Not because it's good, but
because it's timidly clear. I don't have a convinced opinion
to hammer on people, that's what politics do. I just have
ideas and questions, like we all do, and I want to share them
visually on these online platforms to start a conversation,
and maybe wise up, thanks to people's reactions.
It’s very interesting what you are saying. I feel that, as an
artist and communicator, you have developed a universal
language that most of the planet will get. You don’t need
comic bubbles, huge set design, nor justification; it’s
just pure and straight to the guts. Speaking of guts, I am
amazed at how positive you are through your drawings.
I am a passive aggressive illustrator, and sometimes I
can’t put filters on my work. How do you you always find a
positive outcome in your drawing?
Oddly enough, my drawings are a positive catharsis for
me. I am a total curmudgeon in real life. Everything makes
me feel ticked off and complain. But, instead of translating
that feeling onto paper, I try to turn it into comedy and find
the irony. In general, I look more at comedy than I do at
illustration. Seinfeld is closer to my working process, at
least based on social observation. Nobody likes a downer,
especially me. I'd much rather have a positive outlook, so
I'm using my work to turn things around and see the funny
side. Of course, it's very challenging sometimes. But it's
E
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News of the Times
2011
right
Art Buyer circa 2016
2016 for Juxtapoz Magazine