Jeff Roland

"Jeff Roland creates bold, colourful pieces which reflect a constant desire to explore the human psyche. Born in France in 1969, he has sold works to collectors in France, Switzerland, the Netherlands, the UK, the USA, Norway, Canada ,Italy , etc, and his work is part of the London Museum of Everything Collection and the Barcelona Davis Museum collection . His paintings have recently been exhibited at the Brick Lane Gallery (London,2010), the Cannes Palm Beach Art Festival (Cannes , 2010) and at the Tate Modern ( London 2010)as part of the Museum of Everything exhibition 2, ,at the Museum de la Halle St Pierre (Paris, 2010), Galeri Vox (Halden , Norway 2010) and the University of Nancy (Nancy, FR,2011) .
Jeff Roland believes that his art, which emergesfrom the subconscious, should not be defined according to theexpectations of the modern art world. Instead, it is a personalinteraction between artist, canvas and viewer. A self-taughtpainter, Roland's work is characterised by his use of distinctive,tribal-like figures, a juxtaposition of opposing symbols andflattened backgrounds. His paintings fuse aspects of the raw stylewith contemporary literary and visual references. A number of key themes can be idenfied in Roland's paintings. These include belonging (as anartist and individual), interconnectedness and conformity. He is also fascinated by the creationof history. The consumption of one society by another appears repeatedly in his body of works.Roland's paintings stress that "civilization" is built on the fragments of older, arguably moreprimitive societies. This is used as a psychological metaphor where civilization acts as therational conscious usurping the place of the more primitive subconscious thought.
The subconscious/conscious struggle depicted throughout Roland's work highlights another coreaspect of his paintings. He constantly explores dualism and the individual's attempt to definehis place within a world of opposing forces. The polarities embedded in his paintings take manyforms and include light and dark, ignorance and knowledge, the invidual and the society, andthe historical past (and its construction) and the present. His juxtaposition of primitive symbols- such as snakes and neolithic style figures - and contemporary symbols (including pop culturerabbits) - are a prominent example of this concern. These opposites, which affect both theartist and viewer, signify the constant pull of the conscious and subconscious on the individual.Jeff Roland's paintings are not limited to a dualistic world view. The artist firmly believes thatbetween the two most extreme points there are many universes and infinite possibilities. As such, his works record the fluid transition from one state of being to another.

Dr Melissa Westbrook Ph.D June 2010

Solo Exhibitions
2012 - ‘Jeff Roland : Retour aux Sources' Ancienne Verriere St Pierre et Paul, St Avold, France (article)

2011
- ‘Jeff Roland à La Maison Rabelais’
- Metz, France
- ‘The Many Universes of Jeff Roland’
University of Nancy, France
2010
- Art Cohousing Girasole - Rome, Italy
2009
- Al Vecchio Ponte Bracciano - Rome, Italy
La Cours des Grands - Metz, France

Group Exhibitions
2014-
- 'Mirror, Mirror' , The North Wall Arts Centre, Oxford, UK
- New Zealand Fringe Festival 2014 with Circus Terminal

2013
- ‘Circus Terminal’: An Ongoing International
Touring Exhibition & Collaborative Project
- Gallery B, Boyertown, Pennsylvania
- Outsider Art Gallery, Amsterdam
-The ' I Love...' Postcard show, Outsider Art Gallery, Frenchtown, New Jersey
- WC National , Metz TownHall, France
- ' Road Masters ' West Bank Gallery , London, Notting Hill
- Artea Art Cohousing, Roma, Italy
2012
‘Circus Terminal’: An Ongoing International
Touring Exhibition & Collaborative Project
- Mandalay Hill Resort - Mandalay, Myanmar
- Chateau Corbin - Liverdun, France
- Impaktes Visuals Gallery - Sabadell, Barcelona, Spain
- The Tabernacle - Notting Hill, London, UK
2011
- Galerie de Nesle, Paris, France
The Outsider Festival, Adelaide, Australia
‘What to Dip’ - Chiang Mai University Art Centre, Thailand
‘Neo Surrealism’, Luminarte Gallery - Dallas, Texas, USA
"Art - an open window to the world" MOYA Museum, Vienna
Chateau Corbin - Liverdun, France
Uncooked Culture Open Studio at Bows Arts
Hackney, London, UK
‘The New French Postcard’, Outsider Art Gallery
Frenchtown, NJ, USA
Villa Magdalena - Nice, France
Centre Culturel de Metz Queuleu - Metz, France
2010
- ‘Blowin in the Wind Festival’, Galeri Vox
Halden, Norway
Galerie L’Art a Part Espace Nadine Servant’
Ollioules, France
‘Les Metamorphosées’, Musée de la Halle St Pierre
Paris, France
Galeria Hesperia, Pomezia, Roma - Italy
The Museum of Everything : Exhibition 2
Tate Modern - London, UK
Salon d’art Contemporain - Cannes, France
‘Art in Mind’, Brick Lane Gallery - London, UK
2009
- ‘Entre 4 Yeux’
Centre des Arts Pablo Picasso - Blenod les Pam, France
‘Rencontres Atypiques’
Chateau Corbin - Liverdun, France

Collections
Private collections
- France, Belgium, Netherlands, Italy, Norway,
USA, Canada & UK
Museum Collections
- The Museum of Everything, London, UK
- The Davis Museum, Barcelona, Spain
- Museum of Young Art, Vienna, Austria
- Outsider Festival Museum, Adelaide, Australia - Museum of Drawing, Skopje, Macedonia


Curation
Ongoing programming curator, specializing in Outsider Art for the annual artistic
season in Liverdun, France.

2012 - ‘Circus Terminal’ – Chateau Corbin, Liverdun, France
2011 - Jeff Roland & Mu - France
2010 - Nabarus & Sarah Patroni - France/Italy
Julia Sisi & Dan Casado – Spain
2009 - J. Chanoir & T. Benjabria – France
J. Reno, Lana Guerra & Jerzy Ruszczynski – USA/Poland
Jeff Roland, Rebeka Rodosek & B. Mayencourt –
France/Slovenia/Belgium
Atek, J. P. Charles & Oliv’ - France

Workshops/Performances/Commissions
2012
- Collaborative Live painting with UK artist Paul Czainski
at ‘The Tabernacle’, Notting Hill, London, UK
- Ongoing Children’s Workshop in Visual Arts - Eulmont, France
2011
- Live Painting at the ‘Universite de Nancy’ library
2010
- Collaborative Live Painting with Spanish artist Julia Sisi
at the ‘Chateau Corbin’, Liverdun, France
Commissioned by Jack Daniels as one of seven artists to
celebrate the DFS group’s 50th anniversary. The artwork was
then exhibited at Auckland Airport, New Zealand
Workshop with Italian painters - Rome, Italy
2009
- Children’s Workshop in painting basics - Liverdun, France

Publications/Press
2014The Cool Collections Interview
http://www.thecoolcollections.com/an-interview-with-the-prominent-neo-outsider-artist-jeff-roland-2/

2012
- Interview in El Gran Otro, Argentinian magazine
2011
- Interviewed by Michael K. Corbin for Artbookguy.com
The Museum of Everything: Exhibition 2 Catalogue
The Visionary Art Yearbook 2010 – 2011, Blurb Books
2010
- Interviewed by ‘Halden Arbeiderblad’, Norwegian editorial
& Radio Prime Halden
Articles in L’Est Republicain, French editorial
Interviewed by Maia Sylba for ‘Musetouch’ Visual Art Magazine
Aug, Issue 1
Featured in ‘The Royal College of Psychiatrists’
London Division Newsletter – Jun, Issue 13
Featured in Artissue 10. Online Artbook – artissue.org
Featured ‘Artist of the Month’, World Network Website – June Ed
Featured article in ‘La Semaine des Spectacles PACA’ – April Ed
‘La Bible de l’art Singulier’, 2010–2011 Edition
Le Livre d’art
2009
- Articles in L’Est Republicain, French editorial

Discussions/Lectures
2012
- Invited guest speaker: ‘Art School or Self Taught –The Impact of Labels on Artists in the 21st Century’. London, UK