Artist to Know: Julian MacMillan - Inside Art with Michael Rose

Wednesday, March 29, 2023

Michael Rose, Art Contributor

 

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PHOTO: Michael Rose

 

For some artists, the strict four edges of a canvas are not enough. Pushing the limits of two-dimensional space becomes part of the practice. Julian MacMillan is one such maker. In enticing forms that push their own liminal bounds, MacMillan is evolving the definition of contemporary painting. His art is some of the most exciting new work in the region. A transplant to Rhode Island, MacMillan has a bright career ahead that is picking up steam here in the Ocean State.

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Born into a family of creatives, MacMillan is the child of a ceramic artist and a photojournalist. He earned his undergraduate degree in studio art from Dartmouth College in 2014 and later went on to obtain his MFA from Boston University where he focused on painting. Completing his Master’s studies at the height of the pandemic, MacMillan missed out on a thesis exhibition, but ended up showing his work in an established New York gallery instead.

 

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Previously based in Vermont, MacMillan made the move to Rhode Island due to a few factors, including family connections to the region. His mother is originally from the Attleboro area and multiple relatives historically held positions in the jewelry industry in Providence. Although he received his advanced art training in Boston and still enjoys a network there, MacMillan has decided to make Rhode Island his home.

 

Speaking of what he enjoys most about being in the state, MacMillan says, “How small it is. People are easy to meet. There's a long history of artists and people making things here, but there's also a pretty scrappy DIY approach. I also like thinking about my great grandparents, both sets, living here a hundred years ago, working in the jewelry business, supposedly in the same factory.”

 

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MacMillan’s own workspace is located in a former industrial building, tapping into the type of environment where his forebears in the state might have worked. Housed in a gritty brick factory not far from the Providence-Cranston line, MacMillan’s studio space boasts high ceilings and tall walls, perfect for making and mounting artworks. During a recent visit, new works created using foam, sand, and acrylic paint were on display. On the opposite side of the room, MacMillan’s work station includes tables used for painting and saws used for woodworking, a newer element of his creative practice.

 

At the center of his art-making, MacMillan utilizes a tool rarely seen in studios: a sandbox. Using various implements like shaped palettes or the guard from a desk fan, the artist creates impressions in the sand which are then cast with foam. The foam elements are sometimes wrapped around canvases in a frame-like way, or alternatively act as finished works in their own right. It is a style of which MacMillan clearly has command. Using a complex and challenging medium, he creates intriguing artworks in his own voice.

 

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Asked how his multifaceted approach informs his art-making, MacMillan says, “It helps me wriggle out of corners I paint myself into. It creates new problems, which are helpful. It helps to satisfy my curiosity, which is endless.”

 

Some of the themes MacMillan explores probe his own personal story while others leverage language and tropes from art history. A healthy dose of experimentation is also at the core of what he does as an artist. The results are superb and fascinating. Difficult to define, they are something of a visual mix, bringing together disparate aesthetics of things as diverse as sketchbooks, frescoes, and even hieroglyphics. Colorful and engaging, MacMillan’s art delights and draws in the viewer for closer exploration.

 

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MacMillan’s work has been exhibited at shows in New York, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. When he is not making his own art, he works in the art industry as a preparator and a professor. This summer he will be returning to his roots at Boston University to teach a drawing course, and he regularly works for Cade Tompkins Projects in Providence, aiding in the installation of contemporary art exhibitions.

 

Asked what he hopes viewers and audiences take away from the wonderfully inventive artworks he is creating in his Providence studio, MacMillan answers decisively, “Hope. Humor. A sense of their body in space. The strangeness of the world.”

 

Learn more about Julian MacMillan’s work at his website www.julianmacmillan.com. Julian also shares regular updates from his studio on Instagram  via the account @_julianjosiah

Michael Rose is a multi-talented fine art professional based in Southern New England. Since 2014 he has served as the gallery manager at the historic Providence Art Club, one of the nation’s oldest arts organizations. Through his current freelance work he advises collectors and artists, provides appraisal services, teaches, and completes curatorial projects.

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