R EVERE — A luxuriant overgrowth of blue, red, teal, and pink petals and fronds appeared this month on the walls at Amaya , a new residential building along Salt Street in the new (and currently stalled) Suffolk Downs development. Over 16 days, French muralist Julien Colombier and an assistant transformed 2,700 square feet of wall into a veritable jungle inspired by native plants such as cardinal flower , coral honeysuckle , and blue wild indigo . Colombier, who is self-taught, has had exhibitions and painted murals around the world — from Brussels to Tokyo to New York.
His artworks blend the brashness of graffiti, the bright palette and elemental forms of Henri Matisse , and the natural abundance of Henri Rousseau . Where to find him : www.instagram.
com/juliencolombier Advertisement Age : 52 Originally from : Paris Lives in : Paris Overnight sensation : “It took me 20 years, to make a living with it. I was painting, but nobody really cared. I was doing all kinds of jobs.
” Then in 2010, he changed up his style, introducing a black background, which amped up the optics of his already potent palette. Chanel hired him. Colombier’s career took off.
“At that point, everything connected together in one month. And I was working alone for 20 years,” he said. Studio : He works in all scales in his Paris studio.
“It can be on paper, canvas wall, huge wall,” Colombier said. “After things that you try in big, you say, ‘Oh, it’s interesting. I never did that in small.
’ It always gives new ideas.” What he makes : “I love graffiti, but I wanted to do something with poetry,” he said. “I’m not a naturalist painter, so I don’t know the real plants.
I just get inspired by the movement and the way they go together. It can be almost abstract, just shape and shape and shape and shape.” Miraculously, all those forms merge.
“And then we see nature,” he said. Working with clients : “I like to be clear at the beginning. We agree on the color and shape, but it’s freehand.
You don’t know how it’s going to be. And you have to accept this before you commit,” Colombier said. “Because for me, it’s not just decoration.
It’s a huge canvas.” Advertisement Front to back : First, Colombier paints the wall black. Then, unlike many artists, he starts with the foreground.
“It’s a little like electronic music. It’s layer and layer and layer,” he said. “I always do the front, the first thing.
Then I go under and under and under until I’m on the background.” The paints are all acrylic. “I never use spray paint, because I don’t like my style in spray paint,” he said.
“Plus, it’s pretty toxic.” Advice for artists : “Don’t do it for the money or for the fame because it will not work that way. Sometimes for years, nobody cares about what you do.
You do your stuff, you evolve, you keep going, and one day someone’s going to say, ‘Hey, that’s exactly what I like.’” Cate McQuaid can be reached at [email protected] .
Follow her on Instagram @cate.mcquaid ..
