Jean-Luc Verna a polymorphous and multidisciplinary artist, or an artwork ? Jean-Luc Verna is a lesson, fore sure. For Venomen, he is an idol who has bridged two cultures : contemporary art and underground culture.
His work is as much a part of history of art, as it is of subculture. He is classically trained. He taught drawing at the Villa Arson in Nice, and is currently teaching at the École Nationale Supérieure d'Arts in Paris-Cergy. His arrogantly academic, post-punk drawings are transvestite and echo his motto 'Aren't you wearing a tiny bit too much make-up?’
He is as comfortable on stage as a dancer, or a Gothic diva with his band "I Apologize", as he is in visual arts. However, drawing remains the epicentre, the substratum of his total work : "Drawing is a backbone that holds everything else up: photography, cinema, music, tattooing."
Venomen is publishing two posters of iconic images by Jean-Luc Verna: a clown with make-up and a Paramour logo.
His work is exhibited at the Pompidou Center, the Museum of Modern Art in Paris and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
