Jean Michel’s Artistic Journey in China

Ambassador of Cultural Exchanges

Jean Michel is mindful of keeping open the lines of artistic communication with his Chinese counterparts, learning the painting techniques and characteristics of Chinese art and at the same time introducing the concepts of Western painting to his Chinese friends and fans. He feels he is doing his bit to promote cultural exchanges between China and France.

The year 2014 was the lunar year of the horse and also the 50th anniversary of Sino-French diplomatic relations. To celebrate the friendship between the two countries, Jean Michel created an oil painting named A Friendship of Half a Century, depicting two horses, one black and one white, standing intimately together. The black one was painted against a red background to represent China, while the white one stands against a blue background for France. A touring exhibition of the painting was held in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing and in many other cities in China, drawing a favorable reception from the public. The same year, Jean Michel held a horse-themed exhibition at the Guangzhou Museum of Art and donated one of his works to a charity auction in support of a “Free Lunch” project for students in poverty-stricken areas in China.

Printed scarves based on the paintings of Jean Michel.

On March 2015, Jean Michel held a joint exhibition of paintings in Guangzhou with Qiao Shiguang, pioneer of China’s modern lacquer painting. It marked a moment of “East meets West” for art. “China and France have the most profound art histories in the world, while at the same time the differences between them are huge, which makes everything fascinating,” said Jean Michel. He believes art needs to evolve, which requires painters to cross borders while preserving the essence of their predecessors.

In June 2016, together with Xuan Xinming, a well-known artist with Guangdong Art Institute, Jean Michel went to France to paint from nature and to exchange ideas with Xuan. At the end of August, they co-held an exhibition named “Borderless” in Guangzhou and published an album of their works together.

“People say art has no boundaries. A piece of art can be understood by people with different cultural backgrounds. Art links all of humankind.” Jean Michel concluded: “When two artists who have grown up in different cultures begin to understand each other and paint together, their future creations have already changed. Inspired by another painter’s curiosity, new directions in art will develop.”

Jean Michel is confident of his future in China. France is the cradle of and a paradise for Western art, but the 2008 financial crisis threw the country into a recession. As a result, fewer people are willing or able to invest in art. At the same time, more and more Chinese people are learning how to appreciate art and have more money in their pockets, so the art market in China is gathering momentum. “China and the U.S. boast larger markets in the eyes of artists. And China is always open to artists from other countries who seek to live here and experience firsthand the uniqueness of this country,” said Jean Michel.