Julian is an urban landscape artist who uses black ink on paper to create giant drawings, which are then photographed and made into smaller hand-coloured prints. But for the first time Julian is selling his 25 original super-sized drawings - do you have a wall big enough to hang one?
THE ARTIST
Born in Hampshire in 1969, Julian grew up in the Cotswolds and always dreamed of being an architect. After studying at University South West he moved to London and worked on pop magazines and national newspapers, and in 2003 became Art Editor of the Daily Telegraph. In 2013 he left to become a full time artist and has exhibited in leading galleries across the country. In 2015 he was a finalist in the John Ruskin art prize and in 2017 appeared as a contestant on SkyArts’ Landscape Artist of the Year.
Name Julian Bovis
Born 1969, Hampshire
Lives Saddleworth, Greater Manchester
Medium Ink on paper
Education BA(Hons) Architecture, University South West
Exhibitions Architects Gallery, London | Prema Gallery, Gloucestershire | Richmond Gallery, London | New Art Gallery, Walsall | Trinity Bouy Wharf Gallery, London | Saul Hay Gallery, Manchester
INTERVIEW
“When I first started to draw at the age of 42, I had an unconcious drive to create huge super-sized works. Looking back I guess I’d waited so long to be an artist that anything small would have seemed like an anti-climax. And if you’re going to fail then you might as well fail big!
In the end I didn’t fail, and the first batch of work I created ended up in a solo exhibition in London; 20 large scale drawings of houses, bridges, railway tracks and anything urban - I just loved the city. (Also I coudn’t draw people or nature, so that helped!).
The second batch of eight drawings in 2015 were for an exhibition at Prema in the Cotswolds; an area of the country I’d grown up in. This time the drawings were made onto brown kraft paper and had a more intense and brooding nature. They included graffiti-covered landmarks and buildings on fire - they were, I feel, my most accomplished work so far.
After both exhibitions finished I ended up spending lots of time with our neighbour Joan Charnley, who after her death left her house to my partner Nigel and I to turn into the Weavers Factory gallery.
So I took a few years off drawing and these 28 drawings were left wrapped up in my empty studio. I never thought of selling them because I never thought anyone would want something so big,
But then in the summer of 2017 I appeared on SkyArts “Landscape Artist of the Year” and sold my first super-sized drawing to a collector in London. And so here we are four years later and I’m finally selling the rest. Each drawing means a lot to me, so I hope they go to a good home and they mean something to you too.”
- Julian Bovis, April 2021