Julian Eleison

About

Julian Eleison (b. 1998) is a digital painter. His work is inspired by anime, contemporary painting, and painting history, with a particular focus on visual history, visual complexity, and visual logic. His recent work explores topics that are relevant to the practice of digital painting: luminosity, the screen, digital materiality, and digital visual culture. Here and elsewhere, Julian makes the argument that digital painting can, in fact, be good.

Julian’s practice is entirely digital, and it’s structured around the logic of painting. Each piece consists of a still image on a screen—a television screen, a computer screen, or a phone screen. These works are made using a stylus and a drawing tablet; all digital brushwork is done by hand. Julian doesn’t copy-and-paste brushstrokes, nor does he drag-and-drop them. He works intuitively and experimentally, paying close attention to the formal qualities of digital markmaking.

Julian’s previous body of work played on the notions of “paint-on-canvas” and “paint-on-paper.” His current body of work could instead be described as “paint-on-screen.” These works appropriate the visual vocabulary of desktops and web browsers; they gesture toward the works’ physical hardware, and reflect on the role of the screen in digital painting and digital culture.

Julian was recently nominated for the Hine Prize and the New Blood Art Emerging Art Prize. He will participate in a self-organized two-person exhibition with fellow student Edith Dormandy later this year.