Julien Friedler(Brussels, 1950–2022) was a singular figure in the contemporary art scene. Theliterary past, training as a psychoanalyst, love for thephilosophyand the writing of several erudite works, as well as his taste fortripsand for the encounter with different and often distant realities, have built the basis of a labyrinthine thought that sees in the visual arts an emblematic realization hypothesis. Paintings, sculptures and installations are the spokesmen of a rich imagination, and constitute the visible signs of a mythical truth that the artist develops through themes fromvery personal cut.
The Belgian artist is the bearer of a humanist vision outlined through his works, but also through an activity of sharing that he carries forward throughSpirit of Boz, an association born to establish – practicing oral, literary, pictorial and creative expression in general – exchanges and bonds, thus constituting a community of thoughts and testimonies on individual and collective realities, coming from various places in the world. Its universe, in permanent evolution, involves opposing facets, each ofcollective inspiration, the others ofindividual meditation.
Friedler's art sets in motion sensations, relationships, analyses, and is conceived as an action inclusive of allvital expressions, whether they derive from his own experience or from that of others. His action, consequently, takes on multiple aspects and embraces various fields, from literature to philosophy, from sociological analysis to the plastic arts. His language involves a pictorial production deriving from the «attempt to discover what constitutes thepassionate essence of people».
Friedler proceeds in an almost hypnotic manner, without constraints of subjects and materials, thus defining an informal way of expression in which he recombines elements of an abstract nature. His expanding energy derives from the ability todissociation and introspectionwhich he applies to himself before taking an interest in others, discovering the most intimate motivations in the other. A journey forexplore the human soulin its universal complexity.
