Jean-Luc Moulène

Jean-Luc Moulène explores various mediums, including photography, drawings, and sculptures.

Biography of Jean-Luc Moulène

Jean-Luc Moulène was born in 1955 in Reims, France. He embarked on his art studies in 1972 at the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Versailles, where he forged a friendship with artist Michel Journiac. Through Journiac, Moulène was introduced to artists associated with the Art Corporel movement, including Gina Pane and Hermann Nitsch.

He obtained both his BA (1978) and MA (1979) degrees from Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. 

In 1983, Moulène initiated "Disjonctions" (1983–99), an early series comprising sixty photographs capturing mundane street scenes. In 1990, he took part in the exhibition "De Afstand" at the Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art in Rotterdam, alongside artists such as Andreas Gursky, Craigie Horsfield, and Christopher Williams.

His recent solo exhibitions include "le point le puits le plein et la pluie" at Galerie Chantal Crousel in Paris (2023), "Clearly" at Miguel Abreu Gallery in New York (2022), "Técnico Libertário" at Casa Sao Roque in Porto (2021), and many more. Moulène's works have been featured in numerous group exhibitions, including "Machins Trucs et Bidules" at Galerie Christophe Gaillard in Brussels (2024), "When Forms Come Alive" at Hayward Gallery in London (2024), "EXPOSÉ.ES" at Palais de Tokyo in Paris (2023), "Je suis la chaise," at Galerie Chantal Crousel in Paris (2022), among others. 

Jean-Luc Moulène has taken part in several prestigious exhibitions, including the 58th International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale (2019), Taipei Biennial (2016), Biennale Internationale Design in Saint-Etienne (2015), Sharjah Biennial (2011), and the São Paulo Art Biennial (2002).

Currently, Jean-Luc Moulène continues to live and work in France.

Jean-Luc Moulène's Art Style

For over two decades, Jean-Luc Moulène has cultivated a multifaceted body of work, blending analytical depth with an air of mystery. Photography has traditionally formed the cornerstone of his oeuvre, from the "Disjonctions" series—comprising seemingly mundane, often urban images serving as enigmatic topographical snapshots—to the acclaimed "Objets de grève" ("Strike objects"). Moulène's photographs are characterized by their raw, unyielding nature, yet they consistently harbor hidden metaphorical meanings.

Drawings and sculptural objects have always held significance in his artistic repertoire, but in recent years, they have taken on a heightened importance, surpassing photography to become the primary focus of Moulène's latest large-scale exhibitions.

Moulène's creations explore the realm of representation within his chosen mediums, while simultaneously tapping into their intrinsic physicality and materiality to actively engage with political, social, and ontological inquiries, often embodying these concepts through the notion of 'transaction'—a term rich with economic and emotional connotations, depicting the ongoing exchange between imagination and reality.