Biography:

Jean-Luc Blanc was born in 1965 in Nice. He lives and works in Paris. He questions the place occupied by images and more particularly the representation of the human figure, as well as the way in which the artist deals with it both in his choice of colors and in the construction of his drawing. He mostly paints portraits but they do not do what portraits are expected to do: reveal a psyche, fix a personality or outline a social type. His subjects are more like phantoms without developed identity or corporeality. Collected from film stills, press cuttings and post-cards, he is drawn to an image as a director is drawn to his star actor. These subjects appear, like actors, void of self in his vividly colored crepuscular world. Thus redefining the idea of desire by operating a detachment between his subject and its context while at the same time introducing a notion of absurdity.

His work was recently on show in the exhibition “Future, Former, Fugitive” at the Palais de Tokyo, Paris. In 2018 his work was part of the exhibition “Divided we stand” as part of the Busan Biennale in South Korea, and in 2009 the CAPC in Bordeaux gave him carte blanche for his “Opera Rock.” In 2004 his work was showed as a solo show at the MAMCO. Recently he took part in several group shows like Michael On The Wall, at the Grand Palais, Paris (2018); The Crime was Almost Perfect at the Witte de With, Rotterdam (2014); L’Heure des Sorcières at the Quartier, Quimper; Pléiades at Les Abattoirs, Toulouse (2013); L’Arbre de Vie, Le Collège des Bernardins, Paris (2013); and Sociétés Secrètes, CAPC, Bordeaux (2011).

His work is featured in the following public collections: MAMCO, Geneva; Fonds National d’Art Contemporain, Paris; FRAC Rhône-Alpes, Villeurbanne; FRAC Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, Marseille; FRAC Haute Normandie, Sotteville-lès-Rouen; FRAC des Pays de la Loire, Carquefou; Domaine départemental de Chamarande.