Julia von Kienlin

Born in Ulm, Germany, Julia von Kienlin graduated from Akademie für Grafische Gestaltung, Munich, in 1994. After working mainly as an illustrator since, she turned entirely to art in 2020. In 2022, New Yorker Magazine senior art critic Jerry Saltz discovered her on Instagram and posted a short review about her work. After several group exhibitions, she had her first solo exhibition. Julia von Kienlin lives and works in Munich.

Julia von Kienlin`s lively and colorful portrait and genre paintings represent the identity and zeitgeist of young people and seek to show how they position themselves in today`s world.

What is one`s core, one`s identity? Where are security and empathy visible in the time of selfies? The works of Munich artist Julia von Kienlin revolve around such questions. She finds her subjects on the self-representation stages of social media. She prefers to select young characters who reflect the zeitgeist in more contemplative situations and translates their snapshots into vibrant and colorful paintings and drawings. In this transformation process, she seeks to reveal their unique aura and expose their inner core. At the same time, she often refers to artworks from earlier arthistorical epochs. In this way, she creates immersive spheres of intimacy for her protagonists and simultaneously points out the unwavering beauty of the human soul.

Reviews:

 https://www.instagram.com/p/CbAdUU4uzNX/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

“Even with the undertows of Alice Neel and Nan Goldin, convincing.

Makes me remember spending time in Berlin in the 1990s.”

-Jerry Saltz,Senior Art Critic for New York Magazine

No painting genre is as indestructible as the portrait. But portraits have never been as present as in today’s ubiquity of social media, and even less so in their extreme form, the selfie. But what is the self in the era of selfies? Where do the permanent performers of the self, caught in the permanent self-control and in the non-stop competition for manipulated flawless ego brand identity still find security and empathy? The works of the Munich-based artist Julia von Kienlin revolve around such questions. She finds her subjects - where else - on the self-portrayal stages of Instagram and Co; she prefers to select young, rather contemplative and sometimes introverted characters. She translates their more or less spontaneous iPhone photos into paintings and drawings. In this transformation process, she succeeds in a magnificent recapture of their respective unique aura. Behind the roles and poses, the masks and attitudes, behind the whole retort aesthetic, the vulnerable selves of personalities with fears, feelings and longings suddenly become visible. Kienlin also stages brightly coloured, ornamental or scenic, associative backgrounds into which she beams the figures, so to speak, so that they seem to merge with them. In this way, she creates immersive spheres of intimacy and security for her protagonists. In the artist`s words: “Painting portraits is a way for me to show my affection.” “

  -Dr. Eva Karcher

 Exhibitions:

Exhibition participations:

 12/ 2023

Edition Paraffin, Streitfeld Projektraum, Munich

7/2021

„Familiar Strangers“, Vacant Museum, L.A., USA 

12/2021

London Art Festival, London, UK