The Biography of Julian Beever - Essay Example

The Biography of Julian Beever Born in the United Kingdom in 1959, Julian Beever attended Leeds where he studied Fine Art. He is an English, Belgium-based chalk artist1 who has been creating surreal chalk drawings on pavement surfaces since the mid of 1990s. Known among people as “the pavement Picasso”, Julian Beever’s creations are said to be optical illusions. He creates the illusion of three dimensions when viewed from the right location. Having started his pavement art while drawing in various countries like USA, Australia and Canada, Julien Beever’s earlier drawings were mainly portraits of most celebrated and famous people. Thanks to these portraits, Beever managed to easily get immediate attention from the passers-by. Special of his works is that they are created using a projection called anamorphosis. This simply means that they create the illusion of three dimensions when they are seen from the correct perspective. Working as a freelance artist, who is creating murals for companies, Beever has travelled to the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Brazil, Argentina, Russia and Portugal to seek other markets. Besides the 3D art, Beever does not only paint replicas of the works of masters and oil paintings but he also creates collages. What is more is that he paints murals with acrylic paints. In different national and international celebrations and feasts, Julian Beever has been drawing plenty of attention with his incredible and highly amazing 3D pavement chalk art to commemorate for example Christmas or the Chinese year and so on. In an article in The BBC newspaper, Sara Loat marveled at this great artist saying, “Internationally renowned Artist Julian Beever is often called the ‘Pavement Picasso’ for his enormous 3D pavement sketchings that bring his art well and truly to the streets.”2 Remarkable of Julian is that he works in chalk. His work can take up from three to four days to be completed depending on the weather. So, if rains falls, this means that he has done lots of hard work for nothing. However, Julian is strongly bound to avoid and overcome such problems emanating from climate changes. Julian mentions in this respect that “In fact it’s not just the weather that can be cruel.  During Julian’s last visit to Birmingham his drawing was swilled away from the pavement due to a mix up with permissions.”3 Julian Beever is so much interested and concerned both with advertising and marketing. His self-proclaimed well known drawing is “Swimming-pool on high Street” that shows a stunning girl with a bikini raising her foot while swimming and enjoying drinking cola simultaneously. When he was asked why he prefers the pavement to more traditional artistic mediums, Beever cleverly explained, “My art is for anybody. It’s for people who wouldn’t go into an art gallery. It’s art for the people.”4 As an artist, Julian discovered his talent in the 1980s. He skillfully designs his creations on paper. Then, he places a camera at a distance of the artistic piece and endeavors to closely watch and observe it through the lens of the eye. About the use of the camera, Beever argues that it actually limits the scope of seeing in comparison with the brain. “It limits the brain’s ability to judge distance, it makes you only use one eye. And therefore you can make the brain believe stuff that otherwise it wouldn’t believe.”5 Confessedly, the moment Julian ushers in working on his creation, he unquestionably goes back and forth keeping a particular distance with his work to the camera many times in an attempt to gain perspective. Hence, once the work is finished, it appears extraordinary and eye-catching. When told that his works fade away due to the factor of time, Julian made it clear that art is ingrained and deeply rooted in people’s minds given its aesthetical and highly important value. “It’s that photograph that goes on the internet [and elsewhere]. Then thousands of people will see it. It will be there forever. It doesn’t vanish, really. The drawing on the ground is just the vehicle.”6 Verily, Julian admits that a herd of pedestrians see his work as graffiti; they do not feel that it occupies a large space on public streets. Julian would therefore receive lots of positive reaction and good feedbacks about his work, for people appreciate it and enjoy it well. Indeed, the effect of Julian’s art is only truly appreciated when it is seen through the wide angle lens on his camera. In complete friendliness and open-mindedness, Julian is used to inviting people to have a look themselves. Perhaps unlike unlucky artists of his period, Julian’s work appeals so much to the common people. Even most importantly, it is not confined to galleries or imprisoned within the gallery system. It is the Mass Media, more particularly, the internet that has brought Julian Beever to the attention of the world public. It is worthwhile recalling that Julian Beever is most specialized and gifted at creating what is called in French trompe-l’oeil. This expression literally means to “to trick the eye”. It clearly depicts a detailed style of an artistic product that employs two dimensional images to bring the optical illusion of three dimensions into life. Also, many other elements are included here like color, shading, an imaging technique and a forced angle. While he works outdoors, Julian feels so much excited and zealot as he really does not know what’s going to happen. Despite the numerous anxieties he does maintain, Julian unmistakably encounters much joy and finds great pleasure in getting the whole artwork finished. Upon completing his work, Julian is determined to get a photo himself of the work at the end. In fact, what interests him as an artist is to get a photograph and if he gets that, he turns out to be so happy. Julian had a long story with this art. This occurred when he was passing by a street in London wherein an antique useless garden had been destroyed, This really did inspire him to convert the space into a virtual swimming pool, meanwhile trying other variations like a well with people falling in. This good initiative had met the appreciation and the acceptance of the locals. Most recently, Julian Beever has created a “Fountain of Youth” in Union Square, New York City. What is striking about this 3D chalk painting is that it involves a bursting fountain and a woman who appears to be standing in water. School children and pedestrians alike are much fascinated by his strong, unique and terrific art. In conclusion, it is Julian’s dedication to hard work, his great enthusiasm and willingness to take risks with his work that made him so much successful and an outstanding figure, best known for 3D pavement sketching. Yet, the rain shall and will always remain his most dangerous enemy so long as it can hinder him from completing his work at any time. Read More