Julie Rafalski

Julie Rafalski (born 1981) is a multidisciplinary artist whose approach is underscored by the inter-relationship between place, memory and time. With a practice spanning drawing, collage, installation and photography, Julie’s portfolio contains an eclectic range of meaningful abstract and modernist works. Of Polish-American descent, Julie grew up between the USA and Poland. She received a BFA at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and then an MFA from the Slade School of Art in London.

Julie Rafalski’s Style and Approach

Harmonious primary colour gradients pervade Julie’s work. Her abstract prints stand out for their brilliantly bright and fluid colour play, as observed in Ghost III. Equally as radiant are Julie’s mixed-media collages, formed by doctoring and mixing images sourced from art history books, encyclopedias and other documents recording modernist artworks or architecture. This innovative recontextualization, such as in the silkscreen Some People In The Encyclopedia of Architecture, gives new life to forgotten memories and infinite new narratives to old materials.

Exhibitions and Collections

Julie has exhibited internationally, with collective and solo shows taking place in Copenhagen, Warsaw, Berlin, Tel Aviv, London and Chicago, including at The Royal Academy Summer Show (2011) and the Liverpool Biennale (2006). Julie was shortlisted for the Derwent Art Prize in 2018, and currently has pieces in residence at several international public and private collections. The artist has also written a selection of prose and poetry.