Jules Milhau is a painter raised in the heart of the ancient city of Nîmes in the south of France. Lulled by the rhythm of the ferias, he rubbed shoulders with flamenco artists, actors, bullfighters, singers and dancers from an early age. From the age of 3, drawing and painting became his language.

His inspiration comes from his family roots: the Camargue, Spain, Algeria and Corsica. He divides his time between painting and flamenco: the movement that has animated him since he was old enough to hold a brush is a breath, a music that runs through all his works.

PORTUGAL IN THE SPOTLIGHT AT 8 MARVILA

1. Entre deux eaux
Octopus ink and indian ink on canvas - 10,00 x 2,00 m

“Octopuses inspire me, their texture between my fingers, their ink, their suction cups... I threw them on the canvas so they could leave their prints, then reworked them with my fingers and a little Indian ink. Finally, I placed the canvas next to an anthill, so that the ants could feed on the organic surplus. A two-handed job, a few tentacles and a thousand ant legs”.

2. BIG FISH
Mixed media on burlap - 6,00 x 1,50 m

“The fish floating in the wind in Emir Kusturica's film Arizona Dream has always captivated me. I'm reinterpreting it today on the banks of the Tagus”.

5. A TRIBUTE TO SINGERS
Mixed media on burlap mounted on canvas - 2,00 x 2,00 m

A series of 10 two-meter by two-meter canvases of dancers in black and white. Each is named after a singer. Ten women who accompany me. Ten extraordinary women who share a common resonance of strength and freedom.

Homenagem a :
Violeta Parra, Chavela Vargas, Mercedes Sosa, La Niña de los Peines, Cesária Évora, Lola Flores, Lhasa de Sela, Elza Soares, Amália Rodrigues, Oum Kalthoum

6. DANCERS
Indian ink on paper - 70 x 100 cm

7. FATIMA
Mixed media on paper - 1,06 x 1,54 m
Mixed media on cartboard - 1,10 x 1,60 m

WOOD FOLDING SCREEN

3. BLUE FISH - 4. BOSSA NEGRA
8.AMAPOLAS - 12. ESPUMA
16. WOMEN AND FISH
Mixed media - 2,00 x 1,53 m

9. ALFONSINA Y EL MAR - 10. LOS PECES EN EL RIO
11. LAS MAJAS - 14. THE TWO INFANTES
15. LA CARACOLA
Mixed media - 3,20 x 1,80 m

17. MADONE
Mixed media - 1,60 x 1,20 m

“Turning, dancing and seeing an ever-changing painting from all sides, that’s the rhythm I wanted to give to the screens. A few fish swim between the women in darkly colored mantillas. Breath is the sought-after energy and impulse, the musical movement”.

13. LUNCH ON THE GRASS
Oil on free canvas - 2,20 x 2,00 m

18. RUEDO D'AZULEJOS
4 azulejo friezes of 60 tiles - 42 x 280 cm each
Total of 240 tiles - 1,68 x 2,80 m

A floor of azulejos born of Jules collaboration with the famous Viúva Lamego factory, founded in 1849 in Sintra :
“Azulejos were for me an encounter, a different way of apprehending and thinking about color. Everything is constantly changing: the clay absorbs the pale color of the first flat tints, and firing reveals them to be alive and vibrant. It’s a way of playing with time and listening to instinct. The gesture is quick, the process is long“.

Link to the artist portrait and details about each art works of the exhibition Jules Milhau