Cerf, Circa 2022

Jeanjerome  

Jeanjerome’s artistic universe brims with bold colors juxtaposed with subtle work in halftones: a voluble geometry of burgeoning spheres in the midst of an explosion of forms. From this interchange, the paintings powerfully spread vital radiance far beyond their canvases.

As an adolescent, Jeanjerome explored the art of tagging, graffiti and sculpting. His references were, and remain, urban culture and hip hop. His discovery of the book "Spraycan Art" and his relationship with his teachers, Patricia and Philippe Legendre-Kvater, who integrated him into the Ecole d’Art d’Etampes, were triggers to his approach. Their technique of “design through play” was among those he studied.

Next he launched himself in marble works. During his artistic inquiries, he explored jewelry making in the gold smith/silver smith? Workshop at the Bastille, Paris. Jeanjerome expresses himself through urban sports including roller and Longboard skateboarding. In particular, he is one of the founders of the now famous Friday night roller skating tours through Paris.

In 2004, he resumes his initiation in jewelry alongside Ossip Froloy in Copenhagen while remaining connected to urban culture. More importantly, he resumes his technical and artistic analyses. He discovers himself through oil painting and sells his first canvasses.

Back in France in 2008, he finds a studio where he first tests the large format he adopts thereafter. At the same time, he teaches Street Art to children and teenagers for the city of Paris. He participates in collective exhibitions diversifying the supports as well as his pictorial means.

His starting point? Street Art, of course. But not just Street Art; Art Nouveau as well. He appreciates the curves, daring colors and decorative appearance embodied in Art Nouveau. When we regard an artist we perceive that s/he addresses the canvas as though beginning the lengthy labor of a jeweler who ignores the outcome. Yet, in the finished canvas, the artist reveals a sense of composition, color balance and lines! It is in this spirit of discovery for the viewer that Jeanjerome enjoys sharing his art through live performance.

This willingness with which he marks urban space with his aesthetic relates to the concept of Art Nouveau: every medium makes sense once it introduces the possibility of art into our daily lives. Out of his concentration flows a vitality and creativity which adapt to the textures of the support before him in an elegant and urban orchestral movement.