"For as long as I can remember the ocean has had a very strong impact on me. Rock pools and the intense imagery of the aquatic fauna and flora filled my imagination from an early age. With roots in Lesconil, a small fishing village in the west of France, I grew accustomed to documenting the seaside in my sketchbooks, then in paintings,” says French graphic artist Jean Jullien about the inspiration behind his current showcase, RIFIFI: Jean Jullien for Kids, being hosted at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne. The walls and floor of the gallery overflow with whimsical underwater creatures that pull children—young and old—to immerse themselves in it. "I have two kids and we marvel together at what life lies beneath the blue drape of water, play in waves and enjoy sailing on my father's fishing boat. I hope RIFIFI will engage our little sea explorers and teach them to love and respect the ocean,” observes the Paris-based illustrator.

Featuring Jullien’s distinctive black brush linework and block colours, circulation within the exhibition is guided by walkways that tread along curving partition walls. Starfishes, crabs, sea squirts, spotted eels, coral reefs, and jellyfishes constitute an underwater immersive scenography, in a fascinating visual noisiness. Having opened at the NGV Melbourne on December 03, RIFIFI marks Jullien’s first presentation in Australia.

Born in Nantes, France, on March 14, 1983, to an architect mother and a city planner father, young Jullien grew up in a 'happy family' where his parents always encouraged whatever he liked to tinker with. Not great in academics, his passion, however, from a very young age veered towards animation and comic books. Art school, because of his performance in school, became a distant dream, but the spirited artist didn’t lose hope. In Quimper, Brittany, where he was living at that time, Jullien enrolled himself in what he calls a ‘very practical graphic design course' that introduced him to the serious yet joyful world of graphic design. After the course, he moved to London to continue mining the depths of the discipline, first at the Central Saint Martins (2008), and then the Royal College of Art (2010). The artist’s deftness with brush pen finds roots in his sheer dislike for depending on a computer for his artworks. As he observed daily life, he could doodle the visual on the go—letters and characters in free hand—and it felt quite liberating and flexible to him.

Instantly recognisable, Jullien’s observations are as powerful as they are visually light. The artist believes most of his art comes from things that he finds annoying on a daily basis, and that the more time he spends outside being grumpy, the more inspiration comes to him. From independent portraits of people doing their everyday sh*t to illustrating a loner in the thick of a crowd, Jullien’s irreverent interpretation of the world around him is sure to bring a smile to anyone. The artist’s 1.2 million followers on Instagram is proof of that.

Jullien finds RIFIFI to be a fantastic opportunity for him to pour some of his drawings onto the walls of the NGV gallery in creating what he hopes will be “a thrilling underwater installation with tailored activities to share my love of anything aquatic!” A seeming chaos and confusion permeate the space, alluding to the name of the showcase which also means trouble and rumble of some sort. In addition to painted surfaces, the gallery also reveals solid artworks (such as large starfish and oysters) on floors and sea sponge illustrations offsetting walls. In an immersive way, the exhibition brings children’s awareness towards issues such as rising sea levels, ocean pollution, and acidification, and through unique activities presents collective solutions.

RIFIFI: Jean Jullien for Kids, which is on view from December 03, 2023, to April 07, 2024, is part of the NGV Triennial 2023 which includes works by over 120 artists, designers, and collectives at the forefront of global contemporary practice. Accompanying RIFIFI, a new NGV kids book titled Who Lives in the Sea?, carries playful illustrations by the artist visualising his fascinating vision of the ocean.