From pre-history to postmodernism, the legends that surround beloved artists have always been a weave of fable and fact. MYTHS OF MAKING explores how true art histories become vivid tall tales, and how the mythologies that surround artists last longer than the realities. In twenty-five short stories about renowned creators like Georgia O’Keeffe, Francis Bacon, Wu Daozi, August Rodin and Jean Michele Basquiat, debut author Julien Guibreteau walks us through a whole global history of art -- and the stories we tell about its creators.
About the Author
Julien-G (French, b.1976) is a painter, printmaker, illustrator, and educator currently working in New York City. His early aspiration to become an artist was triggered by his love of comics and cartoons. The humorous aesthetic and sequential structure of these media left a strong impression. Later, as an art student, he rejected the contemporary academism and pseudo conceptualism of art school. Instead, he decided to learn directly from “the masters” and eventually find his own path as an artist. He experienced an epiphany, when, walking the street and looking at a yellow mechanical digger spotted with rust, he was struck by the analogy with banana peels. That unexpected match became the cornerstone of his poetic and humorous way to address the world and his art practice. Since then, he uses apparently mismatching patterns to question both contemporary and archetypal subject matters, such as human condition, environmental, spiritual and social issues. Julien-G studied art at École Des Beaux Arts de Nantes Métropole, earning a BFA in 1998 and an MFA in 2001. He exhibits internationally and his work can be found in various private collections.