Julien Saudubray: Bleu de Roy

July 21, 2022 - August 11, 2022

We are thrilled to present the first solo show of the French artist Julien Saudubray in Berlin at NBB entitled "Bleu de Roy". Bleu de Roy invites the viewer to dive into a sea of vibrant colors and enjoy this compelling curation from a new perspective. Within the displayed works, Saudubray makes use of the color royal blue as the center of the series, dismantling all traditional processes and applying the background once the form inside the canvas is finished. In this way the blue color functions as a synthesis of the shapes painted in the center of the canvas.

The background and its color – royal blue – are essential themes to this series and for the artist’s practice. It is not only a color with historical value – in reference to royalty and Saudubray having an underlying satiric view of the traditional take and the old school mentality of the French – but he views color as the most important element during the creation of his works. For the artist the color application is crucial, yet finding a specific color by its name is almost impossible. Ultimately the perception is entirely subjective and one cannot escape from it. There is no absolute truth, the name of the color as it is used within different languages thus refers to cultural attitudes and is witnessed in many variations.

Within the pictorial program presented in Bleu de Roy, we can also trace influences back to the Romanticism of the 19th century. The strong and deep blue tones are reminiscent of the vast sea while the yellow and orange colors with the circular shapes are evocative of the sun – a luminous horizon. Ultimately, the effect of perception is what is of interest to the artist. What can be viewed as the distant horizon, depending on the perspective from which one observes the painting, the same painting can be perceived in a completely different way. 

Whether it be motifs such as the eye which might pop in sight, or the abstraction of the conglomeration of geometrical forms, this exhibition offers an immersive experience. It opens the doors to observe shapes, forms, and colors from a new perspective while being confronted with the rupture of traditional visualizations.