Though much is not given on the early life of Jamian Juliano-Villani, it is however known that she was born in the year 1987 in Newark, New Jersey to two commercial painters. Even as a child Juliano-Villani found herself wanting to delve into the world of art, as her parents had owned a silk-screening company where she took a liking to 1970s and 80s graphic design. Eventually, Juliano-Villani went on to attend and graduate from Rutgers University in 2013.

Juliano-Villani’s inspiration is completely driven by her emotion and sense of intuition. Consequently, her process for creating art yields long and demanding work hours in her studio. She also finds her inspiration in the environment around her. When she feels that the studio and the internet does not yield enough of the inspiration she needs, she will venture out into the streets of Manhattan observing both her surroundings and the objects within it. She has also over the years developed a liking to using material from books, as she feels that this material is more personal and intimate. She been quoted as saying, “It can’t just be the most obvious reference; it should from somewhere specific. And it really only happens in books. On the Internet everything’s everywhere. It feels like it’s more mine, if I get it from a book.”

https://art21.org/watch/new-york-close-up/jamian-juliano-villanis-field-work/

As far as Juliano-Villani’s work is concerned, she uses paints (acrylic and oil) and also tends to utilize tools already available to her by projecting images of characters from cartoons and literature. For example, according to Art21.org, “Juliano-Villani begins her process with visual references from books, magazines, and other print media she has collected since high school.” (Art21) In addition, her work tends to be rough in nature and her color choices, bold, which is a reference to one of her favorite art veterans Peter Saul.

Juliano-Villani’s first solo exhibition was one entitled “Me, Myself, and Jah” which opened on September 14, 2013 in the Rawson Projects of New York. The exhibition consisted of many interesting pieces that clearly depict her style of work and also a glimpse into the rigorous production of the pieces.

Aside from the clearly appealing nature of her work, Juliano-Villani also envokes a sense of irony in her pieces. For instance, although each piece that Juliano-Villani creates consists of bright and/or vibrant colors, and usually have abstracted (distorted) figures standing in place for more practical ones, the intended meanings behind her pieces are more politically based and shed light on common worldly issues. Such can be seen in her works “Substance Free”, “Boxer’s Embrace”, and “The Entertainer”.

Bibliography

“Jamian Juliano-Villani.” Art21, https://art21.org/artist/jamian-juliano-villani/.