Julien Nguyen, After Fragonard’s Young Girl Reading, 2022. Pastel on gesso-covered aluminum panel, 41 × 31 cm. © Matthew Marks Gallery

LOS ANGELES - Matthew Marks announceS an exhibition of recent work by Julien Nguyen, the next exhibition in his gallery at 1062 North Orange Grove in Los Angeles. The artist’s first oneperson show in Los Angeles in seven years features twenty new paintings and works on paper.

Nguyen’s new work continues his exploration of art historical, religious, and scientific references, and also expands on his use of portraiture and personal imagery. Many of the paintings on view stem from private moments originally captured in photos on his phone, in particular the recurring portraits of Nikos. Depicted in a variety of scenes both everyday and fantastical, Nikos is seen smoking in a hotel room, trying on a hoodie, and emerging from a giant clamshell. In Nguyen’s view, the repetition of Nikos’s likeness throughout the exhibition pushes the figure towards abstraction, encouraging the viewer to look beyond the individual subject and to see the works on a formal level.

Nguyen’s meticulous process is informed by extensive research on both Renaissance and traditional Japanese painting methods, which in the artist’s words, “allow for innumerable layers of refracting and reflecting color.” This can be seen in the fiery glow of Nebula (2023), an updated sixteenth-century still life in tempera on wood. The artist also incorporates this effect of layering in his digital paintings, such as Nikolaos Tying Tie, Paris (2023), which he makes on his iPad and displays on a screen. In another painting, with a similar eye on the past and the future, Nguyen transplants the scene in van der Weyden’s Saint Luke Drawing the Virgin (c. 1435–40) onto a Southern California beach, supplanting the figure of the saint with a self-portrait. As Nguyen has said, “I find it fascinating that individual and wholly separate traditions might actually become quite complementary once taken apart and reconfigured.”

Julien Nguyen (b.1990) lives and works in Los Angeles. His work was included in the 2017 Whitney Biennial and has been the subject of one-person exhibitions at the Swiss Institute in New York, the Kunstverein München in Munich, and the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati.

Julien Nguyen will be on view at 1062 North Orange Grove from June 24 through August 12,
2023, Tuesday through Saturday, from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM.

Julien Nguyen, After Fragonard’s Young Girl Reading, 2022. Pastel on gesso-covered aluminum panel, 41 × 31 cm. © Matthew Marks Gallery

Julien Nguyen, Self-Portrait as van der Weyden’s St. Luke, 2023. Oil on wood panel, 91 × 56 cm. © Matthew Marks Gallery

Julien Nguyen, Nikolaos Smoking, 2022. Pastel and chalk tinted with lapis lazuli on gesso-covered aluminum panel, 20 × 16 inches; 51 × 41 cm. © Matthew Marks Gallery

Julien Nguyen, Emilio, 2022. Oil on wood panel, 51 × 51 cm. © Matthew Marks Gallery

Julien Nguyen, Pascal, 2022. Pastel on vellum mounted to aluminum panel, 46 × 36 cm. © Matthew Marks Gallery

Julien Nguyen, Allegory Resting in the Wake of a Fête Galante, 2022. Pastel on vellum mounted to aluminum panel, 46 × 36 cm. © Matthew Marks Gallery

Julien Nguyen, Nikos Reclining, 2022. Oil on copper, 20 × 25 cm. © Matthew Marks Gallery

Julien Nguyen, Finley, 2022. Oil on wood panel, 61 × 46 cm. © Matthew Marks Gallery

Julien Nguyen, Nikos in Paris, 2023. Oil on linen over wood panel, 102 × 76 cm. © Matthew Marks Gallery

Julien Nguyen, Nikos Blindfolded after Prud’hon’s La Fortune, 2023. Watercolor on vellum mounted to aluminum panel, 31 × 23 cm. © Matthew Marks Gallery

Julien Nguyen, Nikos on the Balcony, 2023. Oil on linen over wood panel, 61 × 46 cm. © Matthew Marks Gallery

Julien Nguyen, Nikos in Blue Hoodie, 2023. Oil on aluminum panel, 51 × 41 cm. © Matthew Marks Gallery

Julien Nguyen, Nikos on a Clamshell, 2023. Oil on wood panel 91 × 56 cm. © Matthew Marks Gallery

Julien Nguyen, Self-Portrait, 2023. Oil on wood panel in vintage frame, 35 × 30 cm. © Matthew Marks Gallery

Julien Nguyen, Nikos Reading, 2022. Oil on linen over wood panel, 102 × 76 cm. © Matthew Marks Gallery

Julien Nguyen, Nebula, 2023. Oil on wood panel, 51 × 38 cm.© Matthew Marks Gallery

Julien Nguyen, Nikolaos Tying Tie, Paris, 2023. Digital painting. Dimensions variable.© Matthew Marks Gallery

Julien Nguyen, Untitled, 2023. Chalk on paper, 39 × 28 cm. © Matthew Marks Gallery

Julien Nguyen, Untitled, 2023. Chalk on paper, 38 × 28 cm. © Matthew Marks Gallery

Julien Nguyen, Nikos Blindfolded after Prud’hon’s La Fortune, 2022. Watercolor on paper, 25 × 20 cm. © Matthew Marks Gallery