When an artist sculpts paint: Carole Jury
Carole Jury is a French abstract artist based in Princeton, New Jersey. Her aesthetic language is conveyed by the communication of saturated pigments through a sculptural play of thick mediums on a flat surface. Her richly textured works are balanced with calibrated palette choices, giving them recognition from prominent interior designing companies and a place in various art collections. Jury’s work, which are the essence and an outcome of her photographs, add another dimension to space, as if to immerse the viewer into the surreal experience that was captured in its inspiration. The defiance to comply with the formal aspects and restrictions of the smooth and flat surfaces that Jury works on, shows the unique perspective that she employs while executing her creations. The manipulation of light and shadows in her work intensify the visual engagement of the viewer, pulling them in to explore it further.
Carole Juty portraited by Photo by Christophe Pouget
Jury is married and has three children. She recalls her journey from Lyon (France) to the US by saying, My husband, who works in the chemical industry had an opportunity to be expatriated six years ago and we chose to start a new life in the United States. Before leaving Europe, I worked in the Chemical industry too as a communications manager. Photography and painting were only a hobby that I reserved for my private circle. This new lifestyle completely impacted my vision of my life and I no longer wanted to project my professional career in the same way. I took this opportunity to manage my art and spend more time on my paintings. The first exhibition I did in Princeton, eight months after my arrival, convinced me to continue in this direction. It’s how it all started. She is represented by galleries based in New York, Las Vegas and New Hope. Her work can be found in private collections in Europe, USA and is exhibited in major art fairs such as Scope, Aqua Art Miami and Art World Dubai. Her works can be found with various interior design companies and designers.
Jury’s tryst with art began in her High school days, she says, as we say in the US: I am a born artist, but I studied art in High School and during the first four years at university where I studied sociology. Beyond studies, being an artist is a fact and it’s a part of your ‘interior’.
This French artist gives us insight into her life and methodology in an interesting interview.
La Vie en Rose - Serie, oil painting, 36"x 36 "
Carole Jury fell in love with this point of view from Virginia and didn’t add any filters. With these shades of roses, the artist tames the color and plays with it. This Series is also associate with the famous song of popular French singer Édith Piaf, written in 1945.
Could you tell us more about the aesthetics of your work?
Building and thinking about a texture is like imagining in 3D what you are trying to shape. Before I even start, I intellectually tame what's going to happen. In other words, it’s as if the mind conditions the body. A passage where the body and mind become one. I am sure that this artistic process is common with sculptors. Very often, I tried to force myself to work only with smoothed surfaces to experiment with a new path. But, very quickly the textures and the desire to bring out these bits of matter outside of my painting returned. Finally, my hands dictated by my mind, are trying to grab the slightest "bead" that paint on the canvas produced, the slightest "accident" that the knives or spatulas drew. To give substance to an
idea, to give it thickness, to make it real by finally creating an object, it’s like giving birth, an existence in its own right. This frenzy of building textures gives my works a reason to be.
Photography has been quintessential to your work process, could you please elaborate?
Photography is the main source of my artistic inspiration. These photographs may or may not be recent. They are, most frequently, part of those already destined to become a painting at their birth. I have been building these albums for at least twenty years, depending on walks, trips, situations or emotions. They are always there in memory and flourish when they are exposed. Photography was my first passion. From the film camera to digitizing images, I kept playing with the lights, the fades and the depths. It’s a self-taught game, of course, that has been refined over the years. It’s an inspiring medium for which I will join my interpretation through painting. Interpretation gives itself great freedom, as if it were facing the image without ever developing a tangible and exact reproduction. The imagination operates an almost natural detachment and attaches itself to the exploitation of seeing two aspects of inspiring photography. This can translate into the work of movement, the field of colors, the texture. It is through this work of transcription that my series are born. Salavador Dali Said “Painting is the visible side of the iceberg of my thought.” Then, the works will stand out, give themselves fragility to obtain singularity. Put side by side, these singularities form a series. A writer would take his pen to annotate, tell his emotion, here I take my tools and my tubes.
Colorful with Mia - Series refers to a period during which a young girl around me was in the hospital. The colorful paintings were then a way for me to send my energy to her. I associated a photo of glossy lips to this series.
How do you title your work?
The name of my series are very important because they have to translate the energy I had when I painted the series. I want to re- transcribe an emotion or an action more than a simple description of the photo I was inspired by. For example “La Vie en Rose” who is inspired by a photo from Virginia. On the edge of a lake, expresses this moment where time was stopped by the beauty of the sunrise. It’s also a wink to the emblematic song of Edith Piaf, a famous French singer. My last Series “Colorful with Mia” refers to a period during which a young girl around me was in the hospital. The colorful paintings were then a way for me to send my energy to her. I associated a photo of glossy lips to this series. All my series are timeless, that is to say that I decided from the start to never end any of them. I want to give myself this freedom to be able to explore them again whenever I want.
Which are some of the artists who have influenced your work the most and why?
If I could summarize, my influencers are many but Soulages could be the one who supports me for understanding how it is possible to bring lightness in my painting. I am also fascinated by the movement brought by Jackson Pollock, in love with the crazy imagination of Salvador Dali, interested by exploration of colors by Paul Klee and conception by contemporary interior designers. Even sociologists like Jean-Pierre Bourdieu with their analyse of the society feed a spirit, an imagination and give to the artist a kind of creative resource.
Lagoon - Series, oil painting, 30" x 48 "
In parallel to other Series,“Lagoon" Series is inspired by a photo I took in Miami Beach. The water was crystal clear and the blue was stunning! However, the lagoon can sometimes be tormented and moving, which is why I painted different perceptions of this seascape in this series.
Could you talk about your recent contribution towards the museum week?
The story started during the annual exhibition called "Together We Art" organized by Life Project 4 Youth (LP4Y) which benefits LP4Y US, an international organization which supports young adults victims of exclusion. I was invited by MuseumWeek‘s team with one of my paintings from the “Lagoon” Series, which was sponsored by Daler- Rowney. This painting became the main visual of this worldwide festival of culture and art on May 11-17. Being selected by Alexia Guggémos, famous art curator for the greatest art event on social media was an honour. The principle of this event is to communicate during the week on the hashtag of the day. It was a great experience because, with this organization, I was be able to connect with “#Togetherness”, theme of MuseumWeek 2020, but also one of my values.
How have you utilized your time during this lockdown?
The coronavirus pandemic pushes us to live in a new and completely unpredictable situation. I have put online a virtual exhibition in the same way that museums and galleries offer. The main idea is not to sell but to offer another model of an entertaining artistic exhibition visit to my followers on social media, my collectors, my friends and my family. It is an opportunity to test new means of exhibiting your art, but also a good way to prepare the step after the coronavirus pandemic. During these weeks, art collectors have supported me with new art commissions or purchases. I am also working on new paintings and a book about my art. As the next exhibition in New York of “Women artists from France to USA” was postponed, we worked, with the other artists -Gaëlle Hintzy-Marcel (sculptor), Marine Futin (drawer), Rachel B (photographer-mix media), on the organization and the details of the staging for the exhibition. I founded this group one year ago and it’s incredible to share it with these talented women artists.
Flying Kite - Series, oil painting, 36" x 48 "
This Series has been inspired by the photo that Carole Jury took in New Jersey. Movements of the kites in the sky inspired the painter and she gave us an interpretation of this moment with this superposition of few colors.
Any upcoming projects or shows?
I prefer to speak about events that I am sure of, the following art events are still scheduled at this time- In October in NYC there will be an exhibition “Itinerancy #3” with the Women Artists from France to the USA, and in December in Lyon, France, I am organizing a “Solo Show”.