• Jean Jullien is a French designer, painter and graphic designer.

  • He has enjoyed great success for several years with his exhibitions, posters and advertisements.

  • He is the author of the “Filili Viridi” project at the Jardin des Plantes in Nantes.

The people of Nantes knew him a little for his posters of emblematic places of the City of the Dukes (Decré, Grue Titan, Saupin stadium, Béghin-Say ...) and, above all, for the decorations of the Nest, this astonishing bar located on the top floor of the Tour Bretagne, closed for a year. But Jean Jullien, 38, is also the author of the giant fanciful characters that have brightened up the Jardin des Plantes for a year. After a first experience last summer which appealed to the public, the artist from the Mellinet district has just put it back with three new men visible for a few days: “the observer”, the “siesteur” and the “passer”.

“The idea is to surprise the visitor by playing with trees, plants, reflections, scales,” explains Jean Jullien.

I am very proud to be working on this project again.

Nantes is where I grew up.

I was immersed in the cultural dynamics of this city: the Summer Festival, the Allumées, Royal de luxe… It was rich.

It nourished me personally, it opened up new horizons for me.

I also plan to come back this summer to see the journey of the Voyage à Nantes, something a little crazy is happening there.

"

"I am not speaking to connoisseurs"

The illustrator, renowned for his “spontaneous” and “popular” drawings, left his hometown fifteen years ago to study and work in London.

Since then he has been in demand around the world for exhibitions, communication campaigns and posters.

Among his prestigious clients: Amnesty International, The New York Times, National Geographic, the Center Pompidou, Petit Bateau, Champion USA… “There I have just finished a series on surfing in the Basque Country.

I work in parallel on a clothing brand in South Korea.

I also have five exhibitions planned in Japan in September.

I'm also preparing exhibitions for Lyon and the Frac Bretagne next year, ”lists the one whose models include Raymond Savignac, Tomi Ungerer, Sempé, or the American graphic designer Saul Bass.

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Why do we call on him so much?

“I have a drawing that is a little technically limited at the base so what drives me is above all to give life to interesting ideas whether in sculpture, painting, animation, in collaboration with teams who have a know-how to materialize them, tries to explain Jean Jullien.

I think the public appreciates a simplicity that is perhaps a little universal.

Graphically it is accessible.

I am not speaking to connoisseurs.

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“No art school wanted him!

"

Now settled in Brittany, his parents do not hide their "pride" in front of their son's career.

“I still remember that no art school wanted him!

says Sylvie, her mother.

Jean has always drawn.

He is extremely creative, he works a lot, but at the same time he has managed to maintain a real ethic.

He knows how to refuse projects that do not suit him.

He is also very loyal with his friends, his family.

"

“What happens to me amazes me,” says Jean Jullien.

I consider myself privileged.

It means that my work pleases and, that is the greatest reward.

"

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  • Drawing

  • Art

  • Designer

  • Culture

  • Nantes