Barney Julian
Profile
Trained as a graphic designer, Julian paints over advertisements, brochures and posters that he collects from cultural venues in cities such as London, Tokyo and New York. By 'editing' the graphic and textual elements of each advertisement, he illuminates their original design while creating 'new' artworks. A self-proclaimed 'Duchampian', Julian is particularly interested in exploring the blurry area between art, design and commerce.Artist Statement
"Content as design and design as content mean completely different things. These ideas cannot be reconciled. Advertising is designed but it may not be design. Design could be art. So we use intention as a means for assessment and even as a judgement. Or we simply choose not to assess. Or we read Walter Benjamin and nod our heads, believing that we at least partially understand.""The way we view advertising is changing.
The way we view design is changing.
The way we view art is changing.
The way we change is art.
The way we change is design.
The way we change is advertising."
"In a visual sense (one of our strongest senses), I want original context to be compromised. I want original content to be compromised. I want pictures to become photographs. I want words to become meaningful text, not distracting messages. I want images to have a physicality, a paper heaviness. I'm tired of using newspapers to start fires."
"The advertisement, returning to design, doesn't necessarily come 'home'. It becomes released of obligations, of impossible and illicit burdens. The bride stripped bare. As advertisements, decisions behind each flourish and font step forward, march forward down main street. The distracting message has become a mere distraction - and distractions are necessary if we are to re-focus, both physically and metaphorically."
"As anything becomes diluted and obscured, we try harder to guess the flavour, the shape and the intention. The joke is on us. However, this all changes when we do find some hidden content, some subversive content. We take it personally and 'get it'. Physical advertising and physical design make a last stand, a last impression if not a lasting impression. But can they be set free?"