Julian Wagner

I draw inspiration from my own experiences, as well as from pop-cultural references, such as the film landscape

of the 1980s and 1990s, subcultural phenomena, and fragments of contemporary youth and internet cultures.

In my artworks, I explore themes such as identity, transgression and social norms, weaving together

the everyday with the abysmal.

A narrative dimension is always at the forefront of my work. I wish to invite the viewer to immerse themselves in my visual worlds

and, together with the characters depicted, to get to the bottom of what happened before, after and during the situations portrayed.

In my paintings, I am currently exploring the grey areas of illegal activities, focusing on characters that I create myself

and bring to life in my work. These characters often straddle the line between the roles of perpetrator and victim, or move through

milieus that tend to carry negative social connotations. Despite the sometimes serious subject matter, I deliberately contrast these scenarios with a

cheerful colour palette and a stylised, comic-like depiction. The titles of my works function as narrative elements that

give the characters a voice. They act like speech bubbles, revealing confessions, witness statements or information, or providing the

viewer clues about the segment of the narrative being depicted.