Descendents 2019

James Jean made 'Descendents', with what seems like a mix of inks and layered washes; it’s all lines and dreamy pastel colors. I can imagine him bending over the surface, coaxing each line into existence, letting the composition emerge bit by bit. I see a garden, but the space is totally ambiguous, dream-like; flowers bloom alongside floating figures, all interwoven. The rabbits and blossoms, that's so saccharine, maybe, but the composition has teeth. It's like a surrealist tapestry, where nature and fantasy merge. There’s a delicacy to the linework that reminds me of Art Nouveau, but Jean's also got this graphic sensibility, a flattened perspective that feels very contemporary. He's definitely in dialogue with a lot of different traditions. It's interesting how artists keep the conversation going across time, like echoes in a hall, you know? Each one picking up where the last left off, adding their own spin, their own weirdness. That's what keeps it all alive.