* 1987 in Montréal, CA
Yearning for love and success, Julien Ceccaldi’s comic book characters seem to exist in states of sentimental overload and detachment. In this pair of lightboxes, digitally drawn backgrounds are superimposed with hand-painted characters in acrylic. The images feature scenes of disconnect between a hunky man and an emaciated, corpse-like body in a bare interior. Outside we see the flowering branches of a sakura tree and an impossibly close view of the Eiffel Tower, a perennial symbol of romance and a stand-in for cultural hybridity suggesting the adaptation of French culture in Japanese manga and the japonisme of French culture in turn. Together the two pieces create a vertiginous sense of mental and physical displacement paired with a state of emotional disconnect and stasis.
List of works
Monument Left, 2016
Digital print, acrylic glass, acrylic paint, aluminum, LED lights
Installation view of Monument Left, 2016; courtesy Julien Ceccaldi; Jenny’s, Los Angeles; photo: Timo Ohler
Installation view of Monument Right, 2016; courtesy Julien Ceccaldi; Jenny’s, Los Angeles; photo: Timo Ohler
Monument Right, 2016
Digital print, acrylic glass, acrylic paint, aluminum, LED lights
All works Courtesy Julien Ceccaldi; Jenny’s, Los Angeles
Commissioned and coproduced by Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art
With the support of Canada Council for the Arts