French contemporary artist Jean Jullien has spent much of his career painting summery seascapes or playful cartoons, often inspired by the happy scenes of his childhood. His work is beloved the world over for its light-hearted humour and keen observations of shared human experiences, as demonstrated in his single cell comics about digital technology, life in lockdown, domestic relationships and other aspects of our modern world.
Last year, however, the artist took a pause from depicting the world through his own eyes and imagined what things would look like from the perspective of his figure drawings if they were to come to life. In his 2021 solo exhibition ‘Paper People’ at Shibuya’s Parco Museum, Jullien created a narrative in which one of his 2D characters came to life and crossed into the third dimension. Abandoned by its creator, the lonely figurine proceeded to take things into its own hands and created more paper people for company.
This latest installation, which is now displayed in the central atrium of Ginza Six, is a continuation of the story of Jullien’s self-aware creations after abandoning the 2D world. Aptly titled ‘The Departure’, this eight-metre sculpture depicts Jullien’s characters taking flight with sheets of paper as their magic carpets. The piece – crafted from metal – is the artist’s first large scale public sculpture, and will tentatively be on show until spring 2024.
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