“I don’t like to explain my paintings. I find the interaction between the viewer and the art piece more interesting. Leave some mystery that allows everyone to capture the image by putting a bit of self. We are now drunk of explicit, decorative, illustrative, informative image. The collective imagination overtaken the intimate imagination. This lithograph is a hymn to the personal and private world that makes each of us a unique being. The back of the child, faceless, is the spectator. What does he see, look at? Free to each one to find out something special. I painted once in the street, in China on an austere door in the middle of a huge avenue of white walls. This is the idea of contrast that appeals me. The bright colors and rounded shapes of the child contrasted with the rigor of the place. The support portal also works with the idea of a door to another dimension. The lithograph treaty and its thin frame that overlaps the spray paint used on the original art piece, interested me and gives to this image some sweetness.” Seth
In the mid-90s, Julien Malland began mural painting in the 20th arrondissement of Paris under the name of « Seth ». He became famous among Parisian graffiti artists by creating characters. Graduated from Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs from Paris (ENSAD), he published in 2000, in collaboration with Gauthier Bischoff, “Kapital, one year of graffiti in Paris“, the best selling book about French graffiti. Together, they founded « Wasted Talent », a publishing project specialized in monographs from urban artists.
Since 2003, he has ventured across the world in order to exchange with street artists from different culture and broaden his own perspective about life and mural painting. Since then, he has been compelled to draw simple characters, mostly children, somehow connected to the chaotic environment in which they are revealed. Witnessing the outcome of globalization, his creations are celebrating traditions, defining a hybrid culture between modern expression and traditional representation. His approach aims to arouse an artistic dialogue, whether it is a collaboration with local urban artists or a learning process of traditional techniques from local craftsmen. In addition, Seth is the author and director of “Les nouveaux explorateurs“, a TV serial show produced by Canal+ where each show is focusing on a country and its local mural artists. His travels during the last two years are narrated in a book he authored, “Extramuros“.
