A+D 2018

James Jean made this painting, A+D, with such a delicate touch, a world of dreamy colour. It looks like he’s painting his way through a thought. The textures are fascinating here, with the paint applied so thinly. It reminds me of watercolors but with the richness of oils. Look at the figure of the tree-person, it's all smooth skin but covered with this wild graffiti, it feels very personal, like a secret diary. There is an eroticism and a playfulness to the lines, some of them bleeding like tears. That shade of turquoise he’s chosen for the skin is so unexpected. It’s a colour you don’t often see on human forms, and yet it makes it so alive. It reminds me of the paintings of Frida Kahlo who also turned her own body into a landscape of symbolic marks. Art is a conversation and Jean is an interesting voice. He lets us see the world with new eyes.