Veil 2019

James Jean made *Veil* with flat color and layered imagery. It's like he's building up the painting from a kit of parts – figures, animals, flowers – all rendered in this super smooth, almost airbrushed style, and the color palette is like a faded memory, all muted reds, pinks, and grays. There's a real tension between the flatness of the surface and the depth of the composition. Look at how the tiger and the dog are rendered with such detail, yet they're placed against these abstract, geometric shapes. It's like Jean is playing with different levels of reality, inviting us to get lost in the layers. The overall effect is dreamlike, a world that feels both familiar and utterly strange. Jean's aesthetic reminds me a little of Yoshitaka Amano, that Japanese artist known for his work on *Final Fantasy*. They both have this knack for blending high and low art, creating images that are at once beautiful and unsettling. Ultimately, *Veil* celebrates the idea of art as a conversation, a constant exchange of ideas across time and cultures.