Clément Poplineau

BIOGRAPHY

Clément Poplineau (1991, Lyon, FR) paints Renaissance-like, realistic portraits of French

banlieue youngsters. His characters look like they are hiding something; what seeps out

of their composure, is sheer complexity. Clément Poplineau uses historical métier for

contemporary tableaus. Fanta, scraps of fast food, and Adidas wrap around his mute but

biting figures. Centuries and social hierarchies are put on equal footing. And as the origin

of portraiture indicates, Clément Poplineau’s paintings think about power, class, and

identity — only he sharpens it. By sacralizing the “symbolic activities” that make up the

banlieue’s youngster identities — from social exclusion to visual and bodily language —

his paintings revaluate (un)ruly habits.

Clément Poplineau completed his painting studies in Brussels in 2018. He has exhibited

at Palace in Brussels where he had a solo exhibition and has been a part of a number of

group shows, among which at Académie Royale des Beaux Arts (2019), SB34 (2018),

Montana Shop (2018) and Lycée Molière (2018).