Julien Menzel
Lyon, France
Julien Menzel is a Franco-German artist from Lyon. This city, origin of the « festival of lights », has strongly influenced the artistic orientation of his work. Constantly seeking to tame photons, he thinks together light and space design. His work currently takes the form of a « Colorful Bestiary », inspired by his admiration for the beauty of wildlife and the message it conveys about ecosystem preservation, as well as installations with geometric shapes that evoke more digital themes, such as his latest projects on social media algorithms and human behavior on these platforms.
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Language
French, German, English
Workshops
Julien has been teaching at a training center for stage managers for 10 years; there, he created the “video stage manager” curriculum and also shares his expertise in video mapping through occasional workshops with artists in Europe and Central America.
Full Bio
Julien Menzel is a Franco-German artist from Lyon. This city, origin of the « festival of lights », has strongly influenced the artistic orientation of his work. Constantly seeking to tame photons, he thinks together light and space design.
His work currently takes shape through a « Colorful Bestiary », inspired by his admiration for the beauty of wildlife and the message it conveys about ecosystem preservation, as well as installations with geometric forms that evoke more digital themes, such as his latest projects on social media algorithms and human behavior on these platforms.
Various influences have shaped his artistic journey. His first major artistic influence was discovering the work of Vasarely and the GRAV collective. His hometown, Lyon, also shaped his path by giving him access to numerous light art projects from childhood onward.
His artistic practice began naturally with graffiti—on walls and canvases—and this art form immediately sparked his interest in working in public spaces. At the same time, his “geek” side led him to explore video and computer science. It was in architecture school that he rounded out his training by learning to understand how light sculpts space, to move from design to production, and to engage with the urban environment. His exploration then led him to video mapping and, above all, augmented drawing, which produces a more sculptural result than simple digital pixel projection. His fascination with sculptural form ultimately led him to pursue his artistic journey through the creation of light installations, bas-relief canvases, and mirror installations.
His work currently takes shape through a « Colorful Bestiary », inspired by his admiration for the beauty of wildlife and the message it conveys about ecosystem preservation, as well as installations with geometric forms that evoke more digital themes, such as his latest projects on social media algorithms and human behavior on these platforms.
Various influences have shaped his artistic journey. His first major artistic influence was discovering the work of Vasarely and the GRAV collective. His hometown, Lyon, also shaped his path by giving him access to numerous light art projects from childhood onward.
His artistic practice began naturally with graffiti—on walls and canvases—and this art form immediately sparked his interest in working in public spaces. At the same time, his “geek” side led him to explore video and computer science. It was in architecture school that he rounded out his training by learning to understand how light sculpts space, to move from design to production, and to engage with the urban environment. His exploration then led him to video mapping and, above all, augmented drawing, which produces a more sculptural result than simple digital pixel projection. His fascination with sculptural form ultimately led him to pursue his artistic journey through the creation of light installations, bas-relief canvases, and mirror installations.
