Painter and illustrator Martin Jarrie has lived and worked in Paris since 1981.

His work encompasses commercial advertising, book illustration and personal artistic exploration.

The French artist is drawn to mutations and curious scenarios, skewing bodily proportions or melding two creatures into strange hybrids.

After a period working in documentary, even hyperrealistic, drawing, he shifted his style towards a freer, more pictorial expression influenced by Surrealism, the Italian Primitives, Art Brut, and contemporary art.

One defining characteristic of Martin’s work is the subtle layering of paint in each piece.

Jarrie uses leftover paint from palettes before they dry, or the small amount of paint left in a tube and spreads it on paper before storing it away.

It is these papers that he pulls from to start new work. The result is a rich canvas that, much like a palimpsest, hints at a hidden painting below.

More of Martin Jarrie’s unusual work can be found at https://martinjarrie.com/.

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