Jean Claracq

Painter Jean Claracq explores contemporary youth codes in figurative works with influences from paintings of the Middle Ages and the Italian and Flemish Renaissance. Claracq’s portraits reference social media photographs of young men in various states of leisure. Readapting art historical concepts of divine vision to contemporary image culture, Claracq surrounds his figures with multiple perspectives and vistas of the world outside of their immediate preoccupations: in computer and smartphone screens, through the distant skeletons of unfinished housing developments, or on the walls of an apartment visible through a neighboring window. With these multidimensional views, Claracq recontextualizes digital self-portraits of lonely guys in pursuit of virtual attention: still seeking connection but hesitant to make a move. (Recipient of the Jean-Francois Prat Prize, Paris in 2021)