Who Stole The Tarts ? (2014) Painting by 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

• Nationality: FRANCE
• Date of birth : 1969
• Artistic domains:
• Groups: Contemporary French Artists