Draft:Lara Julian

Lara Julian (born 29 July 1981) is an abstract artist living and working in London.

Early life
Lara Julian was born in 1981 in Novosibirsk, Russia. Julian hails from a family of creatives, with her father being a figurative painter and her mother an art historian. Immersed in an artistic environment, Julian started painting during childhood. However, she decided not to pursue art as her primary occupation. While working at MDM Bank in Novosibirsk, Lara Julian resumed painting in 2009 and took her first steps towards becoming a professional artist.

Professional career
In 2014, Lara Julian left Novosibirsk and moved to New York. After a year at School of Visual Arts, she relocated to London to study at Slade School of Fine Art. In September 2023, Lara Julian presented a retrospective exhibition titled Optical Adventures: 10 Years of Painting Colour at Gallery 8 in London.

Work
Lara Julian is a colour technologist, specialising in the exploration of colour as an independent object. Julian investigates colour theory, the Munsell colour system, and juxtaposition techniques through abstract painting. The artist's main focus is to demonstrate how variations in colour juxtaposition and manipulation of colour's technical properties can influence and transform its visual impact.

Lara Julian works with acrylic, oil, and watercolour. Lara Julian’s painting is characterised by long, narrow, and vertical lines, vibrant palette, colour gradations, and conspicuous texture. The artist also utilises a technique where she selects existing paintings, often from Old Masters, and deconstructs them into structural details and colour schemes. Julian removes the original objects entirely, preserving only one element of the painting – the colour palette – to reinterpret it within the context of contemporary abstract art.

Influences
Lara Julian has an interest in practices of Patrick Heron, Carlos Cruz-Diez, and Bridget Riley. Her artworks are also inspired by music and nature.

Solo exhibitions

 * Expressions, Private View at 65 Duke Street Apartment in Mayfair, London, 2017
 * Lines of Reason, D Contemporary, London, 2019
 * Solo Exhibition at the 67 Pall Mall Members’ Lounge, 67 Pall Mall, London, May 2021 – April 2022
 * Solo Exhibition at the 67 Pall Mall St James’s Room & The Wine School, 67 Pall Mall, London, August 2021 – April 2022
 * The Colour of Time, J/M Gallery, London, 2022
 * Optical Adventures: 10 Years of Painting Colour, Gallery 8, London, 2023
 * Seasons of Inspiration, MUST Wine Bar Hampstead, London, 2023
 * Lara Julian: Resonant Abstracts, Peggy Jay Gallery, Burgh House, London, 2024

Group exhibitions

 * Autumn Group Show 2015, La Galleria Pall Mall, London, 2015
 * Royal Arts Prize 2016. Edition III, The Royal Opera Arcade Gallery, London, 2016
 * Universal Language, The Framers Gallery, London, 2017
 * Unity in Variety VII, The Nehru Centre, London, 2017
 * City of Darkness and Light, 508 Gallery, London, 2017
 * Gabriel Fine Arts & Venice Art House Gallery, Venice, 2017
 * Unity in Variety VIII, 508 Gallery, London, 2018
 * The Expanded Field of Drawing. Recent Works, The UCL Slade School of Fine Art, London, 2018
 * Approaches, D Contemporary, London, 2019
 * Garden of Colourful Mists, HAZE.GALLERY, Berlin, 2021
 * Art From The Heart 2021, Charity Online Exhibition, Zuleika Gallery, 2021
 * LEMA x No 20 Arts 2021, LEMA, London, 2021

Art fairs

 * Oxford International Art Fair, Oxford Town Hall, Oxford, England, 2017
 * Bath Art Fair, Bath Pavilion, Bath, England, 2017
 * Artexpo New York, New York, 2017

Selected projects and collaborations

 * Collaboration with Maison Arabella, London, 2021
 * Art & Wine Event with Richard Bampfield MW and Lara Julian, 67 Pall Mall, London, 2023
 * Lara Julian & The Oren (Elysian Residences), London, 2023
 * Collaboration with ASTTERIA, ASTTERIA Mayfair Showroom, London, 2023-2024
 * Collaboration with Heath Street Kitchen, 2024

Selected interviews and publications

 * The Discerner Art Publication, September Issue 2018, 2018
 * Mayfair Times Magazine, October Issue 2020 (pp. 38–40), 2020
 * Interview for HAZE.GALLERY, 2021
 * Interview with Demetri Walters MW for the 67 Pall Mall TV channel, 2021
 * Interview with Dr Jay Hicks for Start Art History podcast, 2022
 * From The Bloc podcast, 2023
 * ‘The Artist’ Section in Mind Jump Magazine, November Issue 2023, 2023
 * Interview for Ukraine Art News online platform, 2024