Jean-Baptiste Boyer, Detail of Sans dieux (Without gods), 2023
Photo: COURTESY OF THE ARTIST AND RX&SLAG, PARIS
Next Big Thing: Jean-Baptiste Boyer
The Paris-based creative's evocative work is inspired by the Romantic period
Jean-Baptiste Boyer. Photo: FRANÇOIS SÉJOURNÉ
Light and darkness permeate the evocative work of Jean-Baptiste Boyer. Rendered in a moody palette dominated by brown, ocher, and mineral tones, the meticulously painted canvases feature depictions of lithe, sensual young men in states of nostalgia, longing, isolation, and melancholy. Inspired by the Romantic period, he infuses contemporary motifs such as tattoos and heavy metal makeup, stoking an intriguing contrast between the past and the present.
“The themes that speak to me are often linked to what I feel,” says the Paris-based talent, who was trained as a decorative painter in Versailles, France. “Ruin is a subject that resonates for me because from a metaphorical point of view, it is the one that I can feel internally.”
“Jean-Baptiste is a fabulous figurative painter with a dark sensibility. He is incredibly talented and an artist to the nth degree.”
Brian J. McCarthy
Inspirations: “The Romantic movement is both political and deeply human, sensitive and extreme, which is closest to my vision and my feelings,” says Boyer, who also gravitates toward the oeuvre of Eugène Delacroix.
Up next: The artist is preparing for a residency at the historic Fontevraud Abbey in France’s Loire Valley as well as a solo show at RX&Slag in Paris in early 2025.
Jean-Baptiste Boyer, L'oiseau bleu (Blue bird), 2023. Photo: COURTESY OF THE ARTIST AND RX&SLAG, PARIS
Jean-Baptiste Boyer, Heartbreak, 2023. Photo: COURTESY OF THE ARTIST AND RX&SLAG, PARIS
Jean-Baptiste Boyer, Baptême (Baptism), 2022. Photo: COURTESY OF THE ARTIST AND RX&SLAG, PARIS
Jean-Baptiste Boyer, Quel fardeau (What a burden), 2023. Photo: COURTESY OF THE ARTIST AND RX&SLAG, PARIS
A version of this article first appeared in print in our 2024 Winter Issue under the headline “Next Big Things.” Subscribe to the magazine.
Cover: Jean-Baptiste Boyer, Detail of Sans dieux (Without gods), 2023
Photo: COURTESY OF THE ARTIST AND RX&SLAG, PARIS
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