Julian Charrière

Julian Charrière is a French-Swiss artist whose work investigates concepts of nature and its transformation across both deep geological and human historical time scales.

Biography of Julian Charrière

Julian Charrière was born in 1987 in Morges, Switzerland. He studied at ECAV, Ecole cantonale d‘art du Valais under Prof. Valentin Carron. Later, he attended the class of Prof. Christiane Möbus at the Berlin University of Arts (2007). 

The artist also studied at UDK Berlin under the guidance of Prof. Olafur Eliasson and was a participant in the Institute for Spatial Experiments.

Charrière’s work has received several accolades, including the Manor Kunstpreis in Lausanne in 2014 and the GASAG Art Prize in 2018. In 2021, he was one of four artists nominated for the Prix Marcel Duchamp, with an exhibition at the Centre Pompidou in Paris.

His solo exhibitions have been held at various galleries and museums, including Palais de Tokyo in Paris, Galerie Perrotin in Paris, Arken Museum of Contemporary Art in Ishøj, Sean Kelly in New York, Galerie Tschudi in Zürich, Lange Foundation in Neuss, Museum of Modern Art in San Francisco, and any more.

Additionally, Julian Charrière's works have been featured in numerous group shows, including "I Feel the Earth Whisper" at Museum Frieder Burda in Baden-Baden (2024), "When the Monster is Speaking" at Inside-Out Art Museum in Beijing (2024), "The Bright Side of the Desert Moon" at Noor Riyadh in Riyadh (2023), "Our Ecology: Toward Planetary Living" at Mori Art Museum in Tokyo (2023), "Line Up" at Galerie Tschudi in Zürich (2022), among others. He also participated in the 1st Antarctica Biennial and the 57th Venice Biennale, among other events.

Currently, the artist lives and works in Berlin, Germany.

Julian Charrière's Art Style

Charrière's work focuses on representing and perceiving nature, exploring the traces and boundaries of human impact. His approach merges historical and contemporary viewpoints, engaging with landscape iconography and the power of nature, as well as our yearning for authenticity and connection to the natural world. By intertwining past, present, and future, Charrière highlights different temporalities, allowing geological and human timescales to intersect. His work tackles critical contemporary issues, such as global warming and the exploitation of Earth’s resources, addressing key discourses of our time.

Addressing urgent ecological issues, Charrière’s work often originates from fieldwork in remote locations with distinct geophysical characteristics, such as volcanoes, ice fields, oil palm plantations, and underwater or radioactive sites. A central theme in his practice is the ongoing exploration of the myths and politics of discovery in a globalized era.

The artist works across various media and conceptual frameworks, frequently collaborating with composers, scientists, engineers, art historians, and philosophers. His projects often provoke critical reflection on cultural traditions related to perceiving, representing, and interacting with the natural world.

Through videos, photographs, sculpture, and performances, Charrière crafts expressive images that place environmental political debates within a broad context. His exploration of tensions and contrasts imparts a complexity and striking visual presence to his works, capturing attention with their inherent ambiguity.