Julia Benz is a Berlin-based painter bringing brilliant color and vibrancy to the art world. Born in Wittich, Benz studied art education, textile design, and mathematics. For a short period, she worked as a freelance lecturer in Bonn before applying to Dusseldorf Art Academy and the Academy of Arts in Berlin. Producing unique and welcoming style, free from conformity, her exciting work spans from figurative to conceptual art. It was a pleasure to catch up with her to talk about her work and career.
Hi Julia, firstly, thanks for taking the time to speak to us about your amazing work. How and when did you fully embrace art as a chosen field and career path?
I really came into my passion during the time I spent at university. I was studying mathematics and visual arts. It was a bit later in my life. Photography and drawing were my main interests and focus at the time. I was fortunate to have some professors that encouraged me to pursue painting. So I started taking private classes and exploring different techniques. Life drawings, figurative, life studies. I saw it has a math formula in some aspects, with my self hesitations I wanted to solve the problem that was supported by the professor’s encouragement.
I found my place in painting, with the opportunity to work with a gallery in Cologne and move to Berlin. Through the communities in Berlin, I naturally came into contact with the graffiti, contemporary, and low-bro. This gave me a lot of freedom for me to explore my visual voice. My bright colors and interest in bold compositions were inline with these communities. Whereas in the universities it was boxed in as not normal. This freedom really helped to make my choice with painting the correct one.
How and why did you choose the mediums you work in?
With school like everyone, you start with canvas and paper. Its the beginning I suppose for all when it comes to painting. Acrylic was always the paint medium of choice, oils from time to time and it was a bit of a disaster for how I like to paint. At university, we all learned how to make pigments and mix it with a binder, build canvas by hand, and prime in the traditional way.
I had some interesting opportunities working with my gallery in Cologne to make some installations as well as paint interest canvas like the haul of a boat. Concentrated and calculated movements are a big part of my process while painting. Larger format engages my full body – and there is a moment while painting that the speed of it becomes very peaceful for me. In this way, acrylic is perfect because of how fast it can dry and be re-worked within the same time frame. It is as if the paint is reacting to the way my brain is functioning while painting.
Who and what in life has influenced or significantly impacted on your artistry?
The mentors I had during my studies were a big influence, to understand my passion and direction with encouragement. The artist’s communities in Berlin were another huge influence I had. Being around other artists in all different backgrounds and methods provided a lot of drive for my work. There is a lot of inner dialogue I have, both positively and critically. Artists like Katharina Grosse inspire me a lot with the scope and range of her work. It provides an inspiring benchmark for my work to achieve too. During an artist’s Residency in China in 2018, my interaction with other artists was powerful and meaningful. To be honest, it’s the people I have been lucky enough to have personal relationships with. All of these interactions keep the pressure up for my work to keep evolving.
Do you practice a particular methodology when developing projects or themes of work?
I would say my main methodology is underlined by movement. With a blank canvas, it’s a bit of a fight to see where the process will take the work. There is a lot of reaction between the material and myself as I progress from a blank canvas to the final artwork. With more fluid paints I like to start to build up layers, let the colors blur and blend into compositions and shapes start to form. Bolder colors and thin layers, there is a lot of contrast in my work. Either by texture, technique, line, color, and so on. I feel like during this fight with the creative process that I’m consistently trying to balance it all out. For the viewer, I hope when they look at my paintings they can see these layers of process and methodology that bring out the beauty in my work. The narration of my process is a reflection point in my work.
Looking at your career so far, what would you say have been your biggest challenges as an artist?
In a lot of aspects, to be a woman artists in the contemporary art world, there is a challenge that you have to be twice as loud to be seen or notices. It’s oblivious that the majority of the art world is male-dominated. To find my voice in an authentic way as a female artist without the bias or typecast can be a large hurdle and challenge. It’s uncomfortable to be selected for a project because I’m a check-box for the need of a woman artist and not selected by the merits of my work and professionalism.
From a personal point of view, it’s been a challenge to allow my self to grow and evolve over time. That I can experiment and try new ideas and constructs in my work. As a human being, it’s important to keep pushing these boundaries. But often comes with the feeling of being uncomfortable, so it’s the point to go past this emotional state.
What advice would you give to young artists embarking on their careers?
The best advice I could give is learning how to justify your passion and work. To be able to push yourself to critique what you are doing for the better while being open to the feedback from peers and your community. It’s a career where you have to work twice as hard, like working two full-time jobs.
I’m intrigued by your installations and equally attracted to your use of color, especially your Die Kunstagentin Gallery project in Cologne. Please tell us more about the project.
That project was in 2016, it was the beginning to help open eyes to the integration of my painting to environments and space. It was called “emergency entrance.” I liked the idea of being immersed and absorbed into work. For some years now I have been dealing with the breaking of painting away from the canvas in my installations and I want to make it more tangible. The goal is to move away from flat art – to paint as a spatial, physical, and visual experience. This work has been growing and developing to some of my newer work with plexiglass.
The value and importance of the arts, and in particular visual arts, continues to be a contentious subject in some quarters. What importance do you place on the visual arts and the role of contemporary artists in modern society?
All visual arts in their own retrospect times have been contemporary. It’s an inherent aspect within our humanity that makes us different than other animals we co-exist with. Humanity always expressed our existence in one form or another. Drawing, painting, singing, cooking, language, and so on. It’s not something that can be subtracted from us. We build culture from these arts and expressions.
COVID 19 has undoubtedly impacted on the art world, with many boutique galleries and artists alike focusing on digital platforms to engage audiences. Do you think the way the public engages with art has irreversibly changed?
During this timeframe, I have remained busy in a very lucky way. Some exhibitions have been postponed, but my hope is it becomes temporary along the longer timeline. We will have to see how in the future, it will shift with the economies around the world. As in all changes for the normalcies, there are benefits and cons to the situation. Depending on how adaptable you can be. During this COVID19, I have witnessed that people requesting artwork are taking advantage. Asking the artists to work for less than their normal value. It’s important for artists when times are more desperate to maintain the worth and value of their work.
What are you currently working on?
I’m working on the ‘ANTONYM DIMENSION’ series. This series plays with breaking normative picture planes and familiar compositions: Geometric, monochrome surfaces and painterly plexiglass panels overlap and constitute an independent work. Due to the transparent nature of the plexiglass plate, the contrasting image planes connect and evoke a homogeneous whole. The shadow cast by the plexiglass and the perceptive involvement of the viewer link the installation to the outside world and actively integrate it into the perception process. ANTONYM DIMENSION articulates the contrast to the uniformity of the canvas by continuing the painting on different spatial levels. The way from the classic format to the break of it is not only reflected in the design of the series of works but also functions as a core message.
And I’m preparing two group shows for this fall, one in Berlin and the other exhibition will be in Hamburg.
Where can our readers find out more about you?
@benzpainting (Instagram)
Photo credits:
- Main – Satellite Installation Julia Benz_Vienna 2019©CHIARAMILO-DSC_9795
- Julia vor Platte
- Noteingang Julia Benz 2016 3
- David von Becker
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