Julian Forrest

BiographyJulian Forrest is an emerging visual artist based in Edmonton, AB who, in contrast to the city’s long relationship with late modernist abstraction, is fully representational in his work with a strong social engagement in contemporary society. His narrative subject matter has revolved around male identity and masculinity particularly as it has been represented in pop culture: film and television, comic books and video games, war and sports imagery. Forrest’s paintings recycle appropriated imagery from these sources and, more recently, have placed them in more complex compositions with settings as diverse as modern suburbia, the Old West and the wilderness.

Forrest received his BFA from Mount Allison University (Sackville, NB, 1995) and an MFA from University of Alberta (Edmonton, 2005). He is the recipient of numerous scholarships, awards and grants, including from the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation (1995, 2000 & 2002); the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (2004); the Alberta Foundation for the Arts (2004, 2006, 2007 & 2010) and the University of Alberta for research and travel assistance.

The artist has had several solo exhibitions in Edmonton, AB, Grande Prairie, AB, Saint John, NB, Sackville, NB, Calgary, AB, London, ON, Boston, MA, Charlottesville, VA and San Antonio, TX. His group shows are also numerous and include three paintings for the 2007 Alberta Biennial of Contemporary Art (2007). Since 2008, he has worked as an Associate Professor in Fine Arts at University of Alberta, Augustana Campus.