유토피아와 디스토피아의 사이를 오가는 쥘 드 발랭쿠르(Jules de Balincourt)의 회화는 물리적, 심리적으로 끊임없이 변하는 풍경이 담긴 실내외 공간을 탐구한다. 그의 다채롭고 양식화된 작품은 회화적인 요소를 중점적으로 다루면서도 문화적이고 역사적인 서사를 불러일으킨다. 그는 팝아트와 민속미술, 구상, 추상 등과 같은 여러 사조들을 결합하여 꿈처럼 표현된 한 공간에 여러 형식적인 속성들을 통합시켰다.
발랭쿠르가 처음으로 인지도를 얻게 된 작품에서는 권력 구조와 기술, 대중 매체, 그리고 외로운 카우보이의 모습처럼 대중 문화가 지닌 고정관념에 의문을 제기하였다. 종종 악의 없어 보이는 장면 뒤에 복잡한 사회적 논평을 감추고 있는 그의 회화는 뚜렷한 서사를 약화시키거나 반대로 복잡하게 만드는 세부적인 요소들을 담고 있다. 지도를 활용한 이후의 작업에서 발랭쿠르는 대륙과 국가, 국경에 관해 세계를 정확하게 표현하려는 의무에서 벗어나고자 했으며, 더욱 더 풍부한 시공간감을 전달하며 우리가 내면세계에서도 살고 있음을 상기시킨다. 이러한 추상에 가까운 이미지들은 도식적이기 보다 상징적이다. 대상을 파편화시키고 다시 결합시키는 감각은 원색의 폭발과 분출이 궁극적으로 순수한 에너지 장으로 드러나는 그의 연작에 반영된다.
최근 발랭쿠르는 사회적, 문화적, 그리고 정치적 관점을 작품에 내포하면서 특정한 장소나 시간을 암시하지 않는 범위에 대해 모색했다. 이러한 진전은 그가 보다 더 영적으로, 또 실존적으로 회화에 접근하고자 했음을 보여준다. 원색의 병치와 무성하게 표현된 자연은 세기 말 원시주의와 나비파를 나타내는 시각적인 특징들을 연상시키며 오늘날 삶의 의미를 되돌아보게 한다. 마치 우리가 하늘 위나 땅 위, 또는 밤 중이거나 밝은 낮인 지역들을 오가며 여행하는 것 같은 느낌을 주는 작품에 대해 작가는 인상주의와 후기 인상주의 화가들의 영향을 많이 받았다고 말한다. 이 외에도 캘리포니아에서 유년기를 보내는 동안 1960년대와 70년대 샌프란시스코 베이 에어리어(Bay Area)에서 활동한 구상회화 작가들, 예컨대 리처드 디벤콘(Richard Diebenkorn)이나 엘머 비쇼프(Elmer Bischoff)같은 작가들의 영향을 받았으며, 아서 도브(Arthur Dove)나 밀턴 에버리(Milton Avery)처럼 전통적인 풍경화를 추상의 영역으로 가져온 20세기 미국 모더니스트의 영향 또한 그의 작품에서 찾아볼 수 있다.
파리에서 태어난 발랭쿠르는 1980년대 초, 가족과 함께 로스앤젤레스로 이주했으며, 캘리포니아 예술대학(California College of the Arts)을 졸업했다. 현재 그는 브루클린과 코스타리카를 오가며 거주 중이다. 그는 작가로 활동한 지 얼마 되지 않았을 때부터 중요한 그룹전인 모마 PS1(MoMA PS1)의 《Greater New York》전과 파리 팔레 드 도쿄(Palais de Tokyo ,Paris)의 《Notre histoire…》(2006), 구겐하임 빌바오 미술관(Guggenheim Bilbao)의 《Art in America: 300 Years of Innovation》(2007), 런던 왕립 미술아카데미(Royal Academy of Arts)의 《USA TODAY》(2006), 그리고 상트페테르부르크의 국립 에르미타주 박물관(State Hermitage Museum, 2007)에서의 전시에 참여한 바 있다. 이후 도쿄 모리 미술관(Mori Art Museum, 2010)을 포함하여 몬트리올 미술관(Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, 2013), 로셰슈아르 현대 미술관(Rochechouart Museum of Contemporary Art, 2014), 텍사스 포트워스 현대미술관(The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, 2014-15), 카슬러 미술협회(Kasseler Kunstverein, 2015) 등 다수의 국제적인 미술관에서 개인전을 가졌다. 최근에 그는 전시 《Rehang》(Collezione Maramotti, Reggio Emilia, 2019)에 참여했으며, 《Les enfants du paradis》(MUba Eugène Leroy Tourcoing, Tourcoing, 2019)와 《Eldorama》(Tripostal, Lille, 2019)에서 작품 ⟨Eldorado 3000⟩(2019)을 전시했다.
2022
Jules de Balincourt: Birds on a Boat, Pace, Hong Kong
2021
Jules de Balincourt: After The Gold Rush, CAC Málaga | Centro de Arte Contemporaneo de Málaga, Málaga, Spain
2020
There are more eyes than leaves on the trees, Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris, France
2018
One Island Many People, Galleri Bo Bjerggaard, Copenhagen, Denmark
They Cast Long Shadows, Victoria Miro, London, UK
2017
We Come Together at Night, Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg, Austria
2016
Stumbling Pioneers, Victoria Miro, London, UK
2015
As Far West As We Could Go, Kasseler Kunstverein, Museum Fridericianum, Kassel, Germany
2014
FOCUS: Jules de Balincourt, Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Fort Worth, TX, USA
Misfit Island, Rochechouart Museum of Contemporary Art, Rochechouart, France
Blue Hours, Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris, France
2013
Jules de Balincourt: Paintings 2004–2013, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal, Canada
Itinerant Ones, Victoria Miro, London, UK
2012
Ecstatic Contact, Salon 94 Bowery, New York, NY, USA
Parallel Universe, Collezione Maramotti, Reggio Emilia, Italy
An Honest Statement, Espace Louis Vuitton, Hong Kong
2011
Worlds Together, Worlds Apart, Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris, France
2010
Premonitions, Deitch Projects, New York, NY, USA
MAM PROJECT 011: Jules de Balincourt, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan
2008
Malpais, Thaddeus Ropac, Paris, France
Vanderbilt University Fine Arts Gallery, Nashville, TN, USA
2007
Unknowing Man's Nature, Zach Feuer Gallery, New York, NY, USA
Allweweresayingwasgivepeaceachance, Mario Diacono at Ars Libri, Boston, MA, USA
2006
Accidental Tourism and the Art of Forgetting, Arndt and Partner, Berlin, Germany
2005
This is Our Town, Zach Feuer Gallery, New York, NY, USA
2003
Land of Many Uses, LFL Gallery, New York, NY, USA
Allston Skirt Gallery, Boston, MA, USA
2000
Space 743, San Francisco, CA, USA
1999
Perch Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
1998
Soapbox Gallery, Venice, CA, USA
2022
Unnatural Nature: Post-Pop Landscapes, Acquavella Galleries, Palm Beach, FL, USA
2020
30 Years in Paris, Thaddeaus Ropac, Paris Pantin, France
2019
Rehang, Collezione Maramotti, Reggio Emilia, Italy
Away in the Hill, GRIMM New York, New York, NY, USA
Les Enfants du Paradis, MUba Eugène Leroy à Tourcoing, Tourcoing, France
Eldorama, Tripostal, Lille, France
Works on Paper, Galleri Bo Bjerggaard, Copenhagen, Denmark
We Contain Multitudes, cur. Ali Banisadr, Gallery Isa, Mumbai, India
The Value of Sanctuary: Building a House Without Walls, cur. Kristen Lubben, The Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine, New York, NY, USA
Still Looking: A Still Life Show, Artual Gallery, Beirut, Lebanon
2018
Biennial of Painting On Landscapes, MDD | Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Deurle, Belgium
2017
The New Frontiers of Painting, Fondazione Stelline, Milan, Italy
Art Turns. World Turns. Exploring the Collection of the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Nusantara, Museum MACAN, Jacarta, Indonesia
Déjeuner sur l’herbe, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris, France
Weekend, Mindy Solomon Gallery, Miami, FL, USA
House Work, Victoria Miro, London, UK
2016
The Universe and Art, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan
Flowers in your hair, Fused Space, San Francisco, CA, USA
Protest, Victoria Miro, London, UK
2015
Jules de Balincourt, Stephan Balkenhol, Alex Katz, Monica de Cardenas, Zuoz, Switzerland
Space Age, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris, France
Metropolis: Paintings of the Contemporary Urban Landscape, cur. David Ebony, Edward Tyler Nahem Fine Art, New York, NY, USA
20 + 2 Years, cur. Matthias Arndt, Helutrans Artspace, Singapore, Malaysia
2014
Eurasia, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris, France
Another Place, Hunter College Alumni Show, New York, NY, USA
Duro Olowu: More Material, Salon 94 Bowery, New York, NY, USA
2013
LAT. 41° 7' N., LONG. 72° 19' W, cur. Bob Nickas, Martos Gallery, New York, NY, USA
Something About a Tree, cur. Linda Yablonsky, Flag Art Foundation, New York, NY, USA
La Belle Peinture 2, organised by L’Institut Français de Slovaquie, Palais Pisztory, Bratislava, Slovakia
Cinematic Visions – Painting at the Edge of Reality, cur. Glenn Scott Wright, James Franco and Isaac Julien, Victoria Miro, London, UK
Brooklyn Artists Ball, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY, USA
L'Ange de l'Histoire, cur. Nicolas Bourriaud, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Paris, France
Disaster / The End of Days, cur. Séverine Wealchli and Michael Bracewell, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Pantin, France
Chicken or Beef?, The Hole, New York, NY, USA
2012
Painting as Radical Form, Collezione Maramotti, Reggio Emilia, Italy
Pothole, Salon 94 Bowery, New York, NY, USA
2011
We Regret to Inform You, Martos Gallery, New York, NY, USA
Visions, Monica De Cardenas, Milan, Italy
2011 Bridgehampton Biennial, cur. Bob Nickas, Martos Gallery, Bridgehampton, NY, USA
New York Minute, Garage Center for Contemporary Culture, Moscow, Russia
Facemaker, cur. Kathy Grayson, Royal/T, Los Angeles, CA, USA
2010
Not Quite Open for Business, The Hole, New York, NY, USA
Looking Back / The Fifth White Columns Annual, selected by Bob Nickas, White Columns, New York, NY, USA
The Cannibal’s Muse, cur. Max Henry, Patricia Low Contemporary, Geneva, Switzerland
The Secret Lives of Trees, Monica de Cardenas, Milan, Italy
2009
10th Havana Biennial, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Havana, Cuba
Mixing It Up: Recent Hunter MFAs Working in Combined Media, The Bertha and Karl Leubsdorf Art Gallery at Hunter College, New York, NY, USA
Return to Function, Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Madison, WI, USA
Transitions. Painting at the (Other) End of Art, Collezione Maramotti, Reggio Emilia, Italy
Cave Painting, PSM, Berlin, Germany; Gresham’s Ghost, New York, NY, USA
New York Minute, MACRO Museum of Contemporary Art, Rome, Italy
FUTURESCAPE: Making of the Super City, Contemporary Art Galleries, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA
STAGES, Deitch Projects, New York, NY, USA
2008
Mail Order Monsters, Max Wigram Gallery, London, UK
21: Contemporary Art at the Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn, NY, USA
Future Tense: Reshaping the Landscape, Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase, New York, NY, USA
I want a little sugar in my bowl, Asia Song Society, New York, NY, USA
Recent Acquisitions, Gifts, and Works from Various Exhibitions 1985–2007, White Columns, New York, NY, USA
Eastern Standard, MASS MoCA, North Adams, MA, USA
Cynicism vs Hope, Perry Rubenstein Gallery, New York, NY, USA
2007
USA TODAY, State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia
Artists of Invention: A Century of CCA, Oakland Museum, Oakland, CA, USA
Past, Present, Future Perfect: Selections from the Ovitz Family Collection, H+R Block Artspace, Kansas City, MO, USA
Art in America: 300 Years of Innovation, Shanghai Museum, Shanghai, China; Guggenheim Bilbao, Bilbao, Spain
Phantasmania, Kemper Art Museum, Kansas City, MO, USA
Poets on Painters, Ulrich Museum, Wichita, KS, USA
Prague Biennial 3, Prague, Czech Republic
Five Painters, Galleri Loyal, Stockholm, Sweden
When We Build Let Us Think That We Build Forever, BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, UK
The Stuff What We Bought (Selected Purchases 2007), Archeus, London, UK
2006
USA TODAY, Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK
New York Contemporary: Art Times Squared, Hangart-7, Salzburg, Austria
Our Town, HUT Hudson Untitled Foundation, Hudson, NY, USA
Reverence, Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art, Peekskill, NY, USA
Collection 2005/06, Galerie Rodolphe Janssen, Brussels, Belgium
Metro Pictures, The Moore Space, Miami, FL, USA
Down By Law, Whitney Biennial, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY, USA
Don’t Abandon the Ship, Allston Skirt Gallery, Boston, MA, USA
Humor Me, H+R Block Artspace at the Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, MO, USA
Notre histoire..., Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France
2005
Greater New York, MoMA PS1, Queens, NY, USA
2004
Trunk of Humors, Deitch Projects, New York, NY, USA
4 und 4, Muller DeChiara, Berlin, Germany
The Dreamland Artist Club, Creative Time / Coney Island, New York, NY, USA
True Stories, Johnson City Community College Art Gallery, Overland Park, KS, USA
Collection (or How I Spent a Year), MoMA PS1, Queens, NY, USA
Rowdy Remix, ATM Gallery, New York, NY, USA
American Stars 'n Bars, Chapman University Guggenheim Gallery, Orange, CA, USA
2003
Summer Jam, Peres Projects, Los Angeles, CA, USA
College Art Association MFA Selection Exhibition, New York, NY, USA
Today’s Man, John Connelly Presents, New York, NY, USA
My people were fair and had cum in their hair (but now they're content to spray stars from your boughs), Team Gallery, New York, NY, USA
2002
Brooklyn Front, Other Routes (Mixed Greens), Brooklyn, NY, USA
NY Art Hut, Nutty, San Francisco, CA, USA
1999
Southern Exposure, 15th Annual Hospitality House, San Francisco, CA, USA
Canada
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal
France
Musée départemental d'art contemporain de Rochechouart, Rochechouart
Italy
Collezione Maramotti, Reggio Emilia
MaRT | Museo di arte moderna e contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto, Rovereto
USA
Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA
Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Fort Worth, TX
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA
Oppenheimer Collection, Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Johnson County Community College, Overland Park, KS