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Nicolas Jullien "Food Fight"
Akiinoue
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Artists
Nicolas Jullien
AKIINOUE is pleased to present Food Fight, a solo exhibition by Nicolas Jullien, on view from June 7 to July 5, 2025.
Born in 1985, Nicolas Jullien is a sculptor, musician, and filmmaker whose practice spans multiple disciplines. After spending a decade in London, he is now based in Paris. A self-taught artist, Jullien has developed a distinctive visual language through direct engagement with material. He is especially drawn to the roughness, solidity, and resistance of wood—qualities that have led him to focus primarily on limewood, through which he has created a compelling body of sculptural work.
Jullien’s practice reflects the spirit of folk art and art brut. His works are not defined by technical virtuosity, but rather by a raw and honest simplicity, infused with the joy of making and a desire to narrate. At the same time, they incorporate a semiotic clarity derived from pop culture and contemporary visual language. Through vivid colors, geometric compositions, and subtly humorous scenes, he evokes worlds that drift between reality and fiction—gently captured in the stillness of sculpture.
Animals frequently appear in Jullien’s work. For him, they serve as bridges between reality and imagination—fictional presences that reflect the structures, contradictions, and emotional conditions of human society.
In Food Fight, Jullien explores how animals have evolved in relation to food and adapted to changing environments. Works with titles such as Dog looking at beef, Snake eating eggs, and Man eating an oyster offer glimpses into moments of raw desire. Far from realistic, the sculptures are formed through anthropomorphic expressions and intentionally awkward carving, which render emotions like emptiness, pettiness, and tenderness with unexpected clarity.
The animals featured in this exhibition act according to instinct for survival, yet they are also beings that have been domesticated and controlled by humans. Jullien sees in these animals a reflection of ourselves—humans who live within systems of culture while still carrying primal instincts within. Although these animals have adapted to controlled environments, their instinctive drives remain present. Perhaps those instincts are not limited to animals, but exist within us as well. Jullien’s works quietly pose this question to the viewer.
Where do they end, and where do we begin?
Dispersed throughout the space as if guided by instinct, these sculptures confront us with the vitality we may have forgotten, or left behind.
We invite you to enter into a quiet dialogue with them—and to reflect on what still stirs beneath the surface.
Born in 1985, Nicolas Jullien is a sculptor, musician, and filmmaker whose practice spans multiple disciplines. After spending a decade in London, he is now based in Paris. A self-taught artist, Jullien has developed a distinctive visual language through direct engagement with material. He is especially drawn to the roughness, solidity, and resistance of wood—qualities that have led him to focus primarily on limewood, through which he has created a compelling body of sculptural work.
Jullien’s practice reflects the spirit of folk art and art brut. His works are not defined by technical virtuosity, but rather by a raw and honest simplicity, infused with the joy of making and a desire to narrate. At the same time, they incorporate a semiotic clarity derived from pop culture and contemporary visual language. Through vivid colors, geometric compositions, and subtly humorous scenes, he evokes worlds that drift between reality and fiction—gently captured in the stillness of sculpture.
Animals frequently appear in Jullien’s work. For him, they serve as bridges between reality and imagination—fictional presences that reflect the structures, contradictions, and emotional conditions of human society.
In Food Fight, Jullien explores how animals have evolved in relation to food and adapted to changing environments. Works with titles such as Dog looking at beef, Snake eating eggs, and Man eating an oyster offer glimpses into moments of raw desire. Far from realistic, the sculptures are formed through anthropomorphic expressions and intentionally awkward carving, which render emotions like emptiness, pettiness, and tenderness with unexpected clarity.
The animals featured in this exhibition act according to instinct for survival, yet they are also beings that have been domesticated and controlled by humans. Jullien sees in these animals a reflection of ourselves—humans who live within systems of culture while still carrying primal instincts within. Although these animals have adapted to controlled environments, their instinctive drives remain present. Perhaps those instincts are not limited to animals, but exist within us as well. Jullien’s works quietly pose this question to the viewer.
Where do they end, and where do we begin?
Dispersed throughout the space as if guided by instinct, these sculptures confront us with the vitality we may have forgotten, or left behind.
We invite you to enter into a quiet dialogue with them—and to reflect on what still stirs beneath the surface.
Schedule | Jun 7 (Sat) 2025-Jul 5 (Sat) 2025 Opening Hours Information
Opening Reception Jun 7 (Sat) 2025 17:00 - 19:00 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fee | Free | ||||
| Venue | Akiinoue https://akiinoue.com/en  | ||||
| Location | 2F The Rows, 2-3 Daikanyamacho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0034 | ||||
| Access | 8 minute walk from the North exit of Daikanyama Station on the Tokyu Toyoko line, 10 minute walk from the New South exit of JR Shibuya Station. | ||||
| Related images | Click on the image to enlarge it |
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