Julian Farrar, 1st Place Winner of Inside Out Competition

c o m p e t i t i o n: inside out

Title:

Media:

Size:

Locale:

Website:

Email:

Price:

More Than MEat #6

Pencil and Charcoal on Paper

1.5 x 2.5 meters

Stockholm [Sweden]

www.julianfarrar.com

julian@julianfarrar.com

8,000. USD

artist statement

More Than MEat. In this series I want to use flesh to literally ‘embody’ a thought. I want the patterns and textures I observe in the skin to serve as a vocabulary, hinting at the idea that drives all that is seen on the surface. Each drawing stands at 2.5 meters high and is achieved using a combination of pencil and rubbers.

Inspired by drawing cadavers these drawings collectively represent the captivity we suffer and the joy we experience through thinking.

On this scale the human figure transforms into something often unrecognisable. The undulating flesh become landscapes into which we are free to wander and explore without the constraints of familiarity. Like stepping outside of yourself and seeing your thoughts objectively, seeing them for what they are and choosing whether to recognise them and thus allow them to dominate or not. The fact that I use myself in each of these pieces is very important. If each drawing literally embodies the inner sanctum of my head then they stand as a mirror in which I look back at myself. I may not like what I see but their unashamed honesty can’t be ignored. They demand not to be.

Over the course of 3-4 months, which is the average time each of these drawings takes, this process of ‘embodiment’ takes place. The process is as important as the drawing that remains at the end. It is a performance of depicting or capturing something so transient as a thought but using ridiculously small materials to do so. The piece at the end imposes itself with permanence yet embodies something so fleeting.

It is the illusion of the permanent and the fleeting that is at the core of my work. I go to great lengths to ensure the illusion of solidity remains constant no matter the distance the viewer is to the work. Expressive marks are removed from these early drawings. However, as the series progresses the drawings will become lighter and freer as the thoughts they embody do so.

bio

Julian Farrar was born in London in 1972. After school he studied at Wimbledon School of Art and in 1995 went to Camberwell College of Art for his BA in Fine Art and Graphics. During this time he specialised in figurative sculpture incorporating drawing and photography.

Since graduating from college, Julian has worked as a commissioning portrait artist, a jewellery maker and designer, prop maker for films and theatre, life drawing tutor and teacher of Art and Photography.

Recently Julian has won places in several online competitions including Art Kudos International Juried Art Competition 2 years 2009 and 2010. He has had his drawings published in International Drawing Annuals and Art publications such as American Artist Magazine, Drawing edition. In 2010 Julian was selected as a finalist in the LICC (London International Creative Competition) and received a trophy for his More Than MEat series.

Currently Julian lives in Stockholm, Sweden with his wife and 2 children. His life is an inspiring juggling act between parenthood and artist.

OTHER WORK BY JULIAN FARRAR

Julian Farrar-Artist Photo.jpg

j u l i a n f a r r a r

ArtSceneToday Q&A

Q: Where do you see yourself in the art scene today?

A: I really don’t know, to be honest. The art of most of my contemporaries does not interest me much. I am sure it should, but I find most of it inaccessible and cynical. I feel ignorant of most of it and so can’t talk with any authority about it. As an artist I live my life in a bubble. I don’t really pay attention to what is being produced around me. I am obsessed with my ideas and my work, as one must be. I work as hard as I can to keep up with the ideas in my head. Occasionally I see something that makes me stop and think, but often it all just passes me by, my fault I am sure as I am not receptive. When I am looking for inspiration I usually look to the past. However I do relate closely to issues and problems of our time. The questions that drive my work forward are contemporary ones. So I feel my work relates closely to contemporary society but not so to contemporary art.

Q: What is in your inspiration?

A: Mostly my inspiration comes from the body itself. in its shapes and textures i find a language. a language that spans not only what we see and feel daily but also what is unseen in our lives but glimpsed occasionally. I would say it is the contrast between the physical and the divine that is my inspiration. It might seem strange that I am striving for this and producing such 'physical' images but on this scale they become landscapes, abstract places where you are encouraged to explore the relationships between lights and darks.

Q: What are your challenges?

A: I am working on showing my drawings to galleries. The work has progressed to a stage where this is essential. But this is fraught with difficulties. It is near impossible to get a meeting with galleries these days, even with an introduction. This is so frustrating as I love the work and am proud of it. I think they would make an amazing show, their size and impact must be experienced 'live' but I can’t get the chance to convince others of that. The internet is great for getting lots of people to see your work. People who would normally never have access to it. But I find the results unsatisfactory in many ways. My work loses its power and impact when viewed as a jpeg on a screen.

Framing is another issue for me and these drawings. I take a lot of time and effort with the finished surface of these drawings. I want them to be able to be seen close up and not have the illusion of solidity fall apart as you get close and see all the marks etc. So I am reluctant to put them behind glass. I don’t want anything in between the viewer and the surface of the flesh. I want it right there in front of them, challenging them as if the drawings would feel warm if you touched them. That power and intimacy is diminished if one has to battle with reflections from the room and the cold hard surface of the glass. Also all illusion of depth and solidity are flattened with this glass frontage. However I need to be practical and glass and a frame protect the work and make it more acceptable for galleries and collectors. Some galleries and competitions don’t mind but most do. I really like the idea of taping them up on the walls and leaving them like that. I saw that done once and really liked it. It seems quite brutal and honest. Not hiding behind glass or a frame, everything right there in front of you.

Q: How did you/do you choose your medium?

A: My recent work has come out of a simple question I asked myself a few years ago, ‘what can't I do with drawing?’ I am curious about the limits of drawing. That led me to drawing on this scale with such a small instrument and the challenges that come with it. Challenges but also possibilities…..I found it inspiring to be faced with such a large expanse of paper armed only with a pencil and some rubbers. All that space to express whatever you want. I don’t enjoy knowing the outcome before I have started. I enjoy being intimated by a drawing and having to do battle with it. It then becomes about the relationship that develops. With smaller drawings, they are over too fast and I have not learnt anything about it or myself. But when the drawing is the size of a wall it demands more from me and I like that. Also when I do smaller drawings I find I have to reject so much information as it will not fit on the page without it being laboured and dull. On a larger scale I can be seduced by all the shadows and textures. I can draw all of them. No area is flat tone, every area has variations. Recognising and recording these makes the work exciting to me.

I have always enjoyed life drawing. At school it was not offered so I drew my friends and family (clothed) and at college I did it as much as I could but it was not popular with students so was limited to a few days a term. So I organised sessions to go and draw cadavers in a London hospital where they teach doctors. It was amazing to work from those bodies and to see the structure from the inside. I find it important to understand what I am drawing. To have an idea of what is going on under the surface. That way I can draw with confidence. For me a drawing is not complete until every aspect of it is convincing and life-like. Its not pencil on paper anymore but skin with a living structure underneath.

Q: Which artist has influenced you the most?

A: I cant narrow it down to just one; Rodin, Michelangelo, Dürer, Caravaggio, Henry Moore, Humberto Ramos (comic artist), Phil Hale, Ashley Wood, Jenny Saville.

Back to INSIDE OUT Exhibition Page