Les forêts de symboles de Jeff

Originaire de Scy Chazelles, installé à Eulmont, près de Nancy, Jeff Roland expose pour la première fois à Saint-Avold, aux cimaises de l’ancienne ... 

http://www.republicain-lorrain.fr/moselle/2012/05/23/les-forets-de-symboles-de-jeff 

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"Wabbits and Eggmen" shown at The Museum of Everything Exhibition 2 at the Tate Modern !!! - and now part of the Museum collection.

For the tenth anniversary of the Tate Modern, Art places have been invited to invest the Hall and show works, it was the occasion for the Museum of Evrything to launch its exhibition 2, while the first one has gone to Torino !!! 
My work was chosen by a panel of judges to be part of the show and i am very happy about this , as they are one of the liveliest crew i know of !!!
"Wabbits and Eggmen" is now part of the Museum of Everything collection !!

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Invited to take part and be featured in the Visionary Art Yearbook

In January 2009, Otto Rapp started a Private Network of Visionary Artists on the Ning Platform with a handful of friends. Since then, the Membership has steadily grown and includes some of the very best Visionary Artists in the Universe.

Many of these artists had been friends for decades, others are new to the fold. This Yearbook is a celebration of the cooperative spirit of these Artists and their accomplishments.

Mr Otto Rapp made me the honour of including me in the book !!   YOU MAY ORDER IT HERE

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Three works of mine featured in the Royal College of London Psychiatrists Newsletter     Read it here !

 Three pieces of my work featured in the Royal College of Psychiatrists London Division Newsletter , together with brilliant analyses of my work by Dr Melissa Westbrook !!
I am very happy to be part of this publication and want to thank all the editorial team !

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London Psychiatrists Newsletter June 2010
File Size:	774 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

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Jeff Roland - featured artist of the month on the World Artist Network

http://theworldartistnetwork.org/upgrade/featured

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Jeff Roland's page in "La Bible de l'Art Singulier"

Introduction to the Brick Lane Gallery Exhibition Catalogue , 
by Dr Melissa Westbrook, PhD

Jeff Roland creates bold, vibrant pieces which reflect a constant desire to explore the human psyche. I Remember I Thought We Were Immortals (2009), All Kings Must Pass (2009) and L'Enlévement De Sabine (2009) highlight the complex symbolism which characterises his works. I Remember I Thought We Were Immortals, for example, explores the nature of conflict, its resolution and its function in collective memory. L'Enlévement De Sabine, a contemporary interpretation of the rape of the Sabine women, examines a similar theme. This painting, depicted in a raw style, captures the consumption of one culture by another. All Kings Must Pass reflects Roland's interest in anthropology. It records the decline of great historical societies and emphasises the precarious foundations that sophisticated civilizations are built on.

 

            Distinctive, aquiline-nosed figures populate the foreground of Jeff Roland's work. Depicted in various styles - ranging from smooth and flat to heavily textured - they are used to make reference to numerous disparate artistic sources, including primitive art, Hieronymous Bosch, Paul Klee and Antoni Tapiès. Communicate (2009), for example, highlights Roland's interest in raw, outsider art and Jean Dubuffet. Seven Sinners (2009) reveals the influence of post modern interpolation. Here tribal-style figures are used as a contemporary cultural reference to the 1940s film of the same name starring Marlene Dietrich.

 

            Born in 1969, Jeff Roland has sold works to collectors in France, the UK, the USA, Norway, Canada and Italy. His works have been shown at La Cour des Grands (Metz, 2009), Chateau Corbin (Liverdun, 2009) and the Centre des Arts Pablo Picasso (Blenod les PAM, 2009). Jeff Roland's 2010 schedule will include exhibitions in Rome and Norway.

 

(2010) © Dr Melissa Westbrook PhD

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The Watchers and Chinese Beach : two works analysed by Dr Melissa Westbrook, PhD

The Watchers, oil on canvas, 2009

The Watchers forms part of a series of paintings which explore symbolic guardians and their function in contemporary society. In this piece Jeff Roland depicts two gargoyle-like figures in thick, loose brushstrokes reminiscent of Andre Masson. The guardian in the foreground dominates the canvas. With a raised arm it stares at its viewer blocking any attempt to engage with the space beyond. The scornful creature in the right mid-ground reinforces this sentiment. 


Through these figures The Watchers inverts the traditional artistic relationship between viewer and object. The viewer becomes the viewed as the guardians seize control of the encounter. It is only through them that we able to gain insight into the work as they determine the information being disseminated. The guardian’s actions are post-post modern. They reassert an artist’s right to determine a piece’s meaning. 


The space around the guardians only provides hints at the world beyond. Using Rousseau as his inspiration, the artist places a loosely painted jungle around them. It is not clear whether the figures in The Watchers are guarding an archetypal truth or the entrance to utopia. Instead, Roland plays with his audience. The blurred landscape could be a mirage. In this reading the gargoyles are not bastions of knowledge, as traditionally defined, but guardians of illusion and nothingness.

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Original text in Spanish

ROLAND, JEFF
(M. Ferreras) Simbolismo pleno de signos, a través de “universos particulares” donde prima la transvanguardia del “10”… Nacido en Longeville-les-Metz (France), y hoy habitante de la Ville de Liverdun (con su castillo y aspecto de villa del Loira), con expos en Francia, Roma…, posee un imaginario tremendamente personal, de surrealismo mágico, con rasgos de espiritualidad étnica, primitivista, … ¡y tan singular!: Técnicas mixtas para trazos-rasgos de expresionismo mágico, de abstracción lírica hasta rayar en un “Brut” colorista, de postulaciones/inspiraciones oníricas, fantásticas, en ocasiones medievales (¡románicas... traídas al XXI!), y en cualquier caso iconos deformes de la era actual: calles, tipos, muralidad, dramatismo…, en una representación desbordada de “nostalgia en pro de la búsqueda del significado pictórico oculto, entrelazado a la postmodernidad…”, y que le conduce a su especial “deformación” del universo… Además, ha convertido en sus musas a la modelo jefa de su galería, Irina, y a una fotógrafa americana de nombre Elizabeth Thorp a las que reinterpreta, inspirado, de forma reiterada".

Three new works of mine enter the Davis Museum in Barcelona !!

Check out their site www.davismuseum.com

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Chinese Beach , mixed media on paper , 2009

Inspired by the works of Jerzy Ruszczynski, Chinese Beach examines the universal themes of creation, gene manipulation and the destruction of the global ecosphere. It presents a clash between organic human development and the hideous gene mutants created through the rationale of science. A divine form, shown through a prehistoric symbol, watches the journey from single entity to enlightened being. 

Organic evolution, from primitive to enlightened being, is symbolized by the primitive masks on the right side of the canvas. Indicative of the artist’s interest in anthropology, the masks appear in harmony with the ocean and vegetation that surrounds them. The hovering gold/blue face in the sky above signifies transformation from the physical to the spirit. 

The development fostered by science presents a stark contrast with this pure form of evolution. Roland’s bunsen burner and test tube, rendered in opaque, thick colour, reveal the tools used to by the modern age to explore the mysteries of evolution. They enable man to fulfill his desire not only to create but also to modify his own image. 

The large mutant figure which dominates the centre of the canvas is the product of these experiments. The creature’s face is typical of Roland’s characters, elongated face, long aquiline nose. His cocooned body and halo makes it clear that he is in the process of physical and spiritual metamorphosis. Yet unlike his primitive counterparts, the mutant’s body oozes toxic waste, shown through large splatters of colour, into the sea. 

Chinese Beach does not extol the primitive life over one governed by science. It asks its audience to assess the impact of experimentation on the environment. On a deeper level Roland questions whether it is necessary to create modern Frankensteins in order to evolve.

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Est Republicain - Sept 2009 (French Newspaper)

ENGLISH VERSION :

Flamboyant Encounters

No need to explain the context,as a pace has been found with the exhibitions. For the third time, Chateau Corbin has
changed into an art gallery, and welcomes three artists, among which two foreigners : The first one, Benoit
Mayencourt, is from Belgium, and Rebeka Rodosek is from Slovenia. To understand how they met, you need to
interview the third artist, Jeff Roland, a painter from Liverdun who initiated this exhibition project entitled "Unexpected Encounters".


 Listening to him tell about the creation of this artistic network, all seems easy and obvious
: " Through different reunions during exhibitions, but also via chats on Facebook, gradually, a real network of
international outsider artists was created. From there came the idea to use this place, with the help of the city council,
in order to put forward everyone's work and create a cultural event ".This thus how Eddie Casali, deputy mayor
in charge of culture and communication introduced the opening speech of the exhibition, on Friday. " Our objective
is to give these encounters a solid basis to make it possible eventually to create a museum dedicated to this discipline"

Unexpected Art 

After the introductions, the visitor is invited to feel the atmosphere of the place. Each piece makes us enter a
specific universe, they have two points of similarity : warm and luminous colours, and the woman as a federating
element. Then, each artist imposes his touch. For instance, Rebeka Rodosek has her flamboyant surreal style depicting
a soft and curvy world, as well as a specific technique " She's been working on silk.Her personal touch give a
particular depth which attracts your attention". As for Benoit Mayencourt, decided to remain discreet because of his
shyness, his expression is more subjective. The core of his pencil sketches, of his particular lines lets our imagination
wander. The third part, dedicated to Jeff Roland 's work, invites us into an oniric universe, in which live an ensemble
of creatures, both primitive and fantastic. " A work must first be a pleasure for the eyes. It's an invitation on a trip, in
which joy and blues intermingle, where everyone is invited to wander"

Exhibition open everyday except Mondays, up to the 10th of September at Chateau Corbin, from 2pm to 6pm, free
admission.
Don't miss today : from two to Six pm in the park of Chateau Corbin, live painting performance by Jeff Roland
and Benoit Mayencourt.

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