Julie Batteux, artist

Julie Batteux (born 1996 in Aachen) studied from 2014 to 2022 at the Academy of Fine Arts Nuremberg under Prof. Susanne Kühn and Prof. Jürgen Teller, among others. In 2022 she was appointed master student by Prof. Susanne Kühn. In the same year, she completed her studies with a diploma and her project Spiegelschatten was awarded the graduate prize. Julie Batteux deals with the aesthetic guiding cultures of social networks and their effects on the psyche of the user. The conformity to the smooth surface of mainstream body ideals demanded in selfies leaves behind injuries to self-esteem. Influenced by these ideals, she takes a look at her body. She creates a new view of herself through distorted, distorted and unusual perspectives. The commercially appropriated discourse on body positivity overlooks the feeling of failure that arises when self-love fails to ignite. A self-love that becomes a task, a mental work and thus once again exerts pressure on the subjects concerned. They become the serfs of the social debate with no prospect of liberating their own bodies. Too lazy, too undisciplined to define and control their body. Too cowardly to love and accept it. Thus, in the physical process of painterly reflection, she wants to reclaim authorship over her body image by revealing her intimate self-doubts and body fears on canvas, encountering her personal shadow, unveiling it and making it her own. Julie Batteux has participated in various group exhibitions, including at the Kunstpavillon München and the Kunstmuseum Erlangen. In 2023 she showed her first solo exhibition Leibeigen at Kunstverein Kohlenhof. In addition, individual photographic works have been published in magazines such as Der Greif, Numéro Berlin and System Magazine. Her work has been awarded the Förderpreis des Bezirks Mittelfranken and the Bayrischer Kunstförderpreis, among others. Julie Batteux