Julie Umerle

{{Infobox artist

| name = Julie Umerle

| image = Julie Umerle artist.jpg

| alt = Julie Umerle. Artist portrait.

| caption = Julie Umerle

| birth_name = Julie Umerle

| birth_date =

| birth_place = Connecticut, United States

| nationality = British, American

| field = Painting

| training = Falmouth University
Parsons School of Design

| movement =

| works =

| patrons =

| awards =

| website = {{URL|https://www.julieumerle.com}}

}}

Julie Umerle is an American-born abstract painter who lives and works in London.

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Biography

Umerle was born in Connecticut USA and relocated to London with her family as a young child.{{cite web |last=Guy |first=Lesley |date=10 December 2014 |title=Axisweb artist of the Month: Abstract painter Julie Umerle on precision, chance and Gerhard Richter |url=http://www.culture24.org.uk/art/painting-and-drawing/art509521-artist-statement-abstract-painter-julie-umerle-on-precision-chance-and-gerhard-richter |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181004185719/http://www.culture24.org.uk/art/painting-and-drawing/art509521-artist-statement-abstract-painter-julie-umerle-on-precision-chance-and-gerhard-richter |archive-date=4 October 2018 |accessdate=4 October 2018 |website=Culture24}}

She studied French Literature at the University of Sussex and fine art at Falmouth University where she was awarded a First class Hons degree. From 1991 - 1996, Umerle worked as an artist educator at a number of London galleries including The Whitechapel Gallery,{{cite web|url=http://archive.whitechapelgallery.org/?page=search&keyList=personal+names&keyItem=Umerle%2C+Julie&keyStart=1|title=Whitechapel Gallery Archive|publisher=|accessdate=4 October 2018}} The Barbican Centre,[https://www.tes.com/magazine/archive/outside-influence-0 Outside Influence. Michael Clarke. TES Magazine. 10 February 1995]

The Hayward Gallery and The Royal Academy. She graduated from Parsons School of Design with a MFA in 1998, having worked as a teaching assistant there in her final year. She lived and worked between London and New York for a further five years after completing her studies, before returning to the UK and settling again in London in 2003.

In 2019, her memoir Art, Life and Everything {{cite web |url=https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/no2017103347.html|title=Umerle, Julie, |publisher=Library of Congress Linked Data Service}} was published to critical acclaim.{{Cite web |last=Brunkhorst |first=Meike |date=7 January 2021 |title=Art, Life and Everything - Julie Umerle's memoir makes for perfect lockdown reading |url=https://fadmagazine.com/2021/01/07/art-life-and-everything-julie-umerles-memoir-makes-for-perfect-lockdown-reading/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220625232813/https://fadmagazine.com/2021/01/07/art-life-and-everything-julie-umerles-memoir-makes-for-perfect-lockdown-reading/ |archive-date=25 June 2022 |access-date=28 February 2023 |website=FAD Magazine |language=en-GB}}{{Cite web |last=Carey-Kent |first=Paul |date=23 June 2021 |title=Art, Life and Everything |url=https://fadmagazine.com/2021/06/23/art-life-and-everything/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220520082004/https://fadmagazine.com/2021/06/23/art-life-and-everything/ |archive-date=20 May 2022 |access-date=28 February 2023 |website=FAD Magazine |language=en-GB}} The book describes the early years of her career as an artist in London and New York, and has a foreword written by Colin Thubron.

Exhibitions

File:Julie Umerle Installation.jpg, London. 2010]]

File:Eclipse.Julie_Umerle.jpg

Umerle has exhibited widely in London and the UK in solo and group exhibitions, and also internationally including the USA, China,[https://www.a-n.co.uk/events/contemporary-masters-from-britain-80-british-painters-of-the-21st-century/ Contemporary Masters from Britain: 80 British Painters of the 21st Century. Robert Priseman. Retrieved 4 April 2023] France, Poland[https://artuk.org/discover/stories/made-in-britain-at-the-national-museum-of-poland-gdask Art UK. 'Made in Britain' at The National Museum of Poland, Gdańsk. Robert Priseman. Retrieved 3 April 2023] and Germany.

In 1980, Umerle held a solo exhibition of her work at Frestonia's Car Breaker Gallery in London,{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=8 December 2020 |title=History Corner: Carbreaker Gallery |url=https://www.nottingdale.co.uk/latest/history-corner-carbreaker-gallery/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220528065051/http://nottingdale.co.uk/latest/history-corner-carbreaker-gallery/ |archive-date=28 May 2022 |access-date=28 February 2023 |website=Notting Dale |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Kerr |first=Rob |date=1 March 2018 |title=Solo Show of Abstract Paintings by Julie Umerle at The Carbreakers Gallery, 2 – 14 June 1980 |url=http://www.frestonia.org/solo-show-of-abstract-paintings-by-julie-umerle-at-the-car-breaker-gallery-2-14-june-1980/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220705171801/http://www.frestonia.org/Solo-show-of-abstract-paintings-by-julie-umerle-at-the-car-breaker-gallery-2-14-june-1980/ |archive-date=5 July 2022 |access-date=28 February 2023 |website=The Republic of Frestonia |language=en-US}} a squat in Ladbroke Grove's Republic of Frestonia,{{cite web |last=Kerr |first=Rob |date=9 March 2015 |title=Carbreakers Gallery Poster |url=http://www.frestonia.org/carbreakers-gallery-poster/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210419012712/http://www.frestonia.org/carbreakers-gallery-poster/ |archive-date=19 April 2021 |accessdate=4 October 2018 |website=The Republic of Frestonia}} followed a few years later by 'Ten Years of Painting' at The Barbican Arts Centre.{{cite journal|url=http://go.galegroup.com/ps/anonymous?p=AONE&sw=w&issn=09510230&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA264011631&sid=googleScholar&linkaccess=fulltext|title=Julie Umerle: Ten Years of Painting 1978-1988|first=Doreen|last=Wilder|date=1 April 1988|journal=Women Artists Slide Library Journal|issue=22|accessdate=4 October 2018}}

Herbert Art Gallery and Museum hosted Umerle's first UK solo museum exhibition in 1995 including works such as Paragon, Flock and Wrap.{{cite book|last=Umerle |first=Julie| title=Recent Paintings|oclc = 51994605}}

Group exhibitions include shows at Royal Academy of Arts, Flowers Gallery, Maidstone Museum & Art Gallery,{{Cite book|title=Contemporary British Watercolours|last=Carter|first=Simon|publisher=Create Space|year=2015|isbn=978-1515109921}} Huddersfield Art Gallery,{{Cite book|title=Priseman Seabrook Collection|last=Priseman|first=Robert|publisher=Create Space|year=2014|isbn=978-1505537239}} Jiangsu Art Gallery,[https://www.a-n.co.uk/events/contemporary-masters-from-britain-80-british-painters-of-the-21st-century/ Contemporary Masters from Britain: 80 British Painters of the 21st Century. Robert Priseman. Retrieved 4 April 2023] National Museum, Gdansk,[https://artuk.org/discover/stories/made-in-britain-at-the-national-museum-of-poland-gdask Art UK. 'Made in Britain' at The National Museum of Poland, Gdańsk. Robert Priseman. Retrieved 4 April 2023] Metro Pictures Gallery, A.I.R. Gallery and Artists Space.

Solo exhibitions include 'Recent Paintings' at Bermondsey Project Space, London (2021),{{Cite web|url=https://artdaily.com/news/135809/Exhibition-of-works-by-Julie-Umerle-explores-the-parameters-of-geometry--light--and-space|title=Exhibition of works by Julie Umerle explores the parameters of geometry, light and space {{!}} ArtDaily|website=Artdaily.com|language=en-US|access-date=2021-05-22}}{{cite web | url = http://project-space.london/julie-umerle-recent-paintings | accessdate = 2021-06-02 | publisher = Bermondsey Project Space | title = Julie Umerle. Recent Paintings}} 'Rewind' at Bermondsey Project Space, London (2016){{cite web|url=http://wsimag.com/art/21018-julie-umerle-rewind|title=Julie Umerle. Rewind|date=29 July 2016|publisher= Wall Street International |accessdate=4 October 2018}}{{cite web | url = http://project-space.london/event/julie-umerle-rewind | accessdate = 2018-01-06 | publisher = Art Bermondsey Project Space | title = Julie Umerle. Rewind}} and 'Cosmos or Chaos' at studio1.1, London (2010).{{cite web | url = http://www.studio1-1.co.uk/umerle/index.html | accessdate = 2018-01-06 | publisher = studio1.1 | title = Julie Umerle. Cosmos or Chaos}}

In 2019 she was published in Aesthetica Magazine's '100 Contemporary Artists 2019' printed Anthology.[https://www.aestheticamagazine.com/profile/julie-umerle Aesthetica Magazine. Julie Umerle]

Work

Umerle paints in series that are open-ended, exploring similarity, repetition and difference within each group of work,[https://www.aestheticamagazine.com/profile/julie-umerle Aesthetica Magazine. Julie Umerle] making work that explores the materiality of paint and the processes of abstract painting.[https://www.artimage.org.uk/news/2016/visceral-beyond-words-julie-umerle-on-abstract-painting/ Artimage. Julie Umerle on abstract painting. 2016] Her practice is an investigation of materials and the perception of the image.{{cite web|url=https://www.artimage.org.uk/artists/u/julie-umerle/|title=Julie Umerle : Artimage|website=www.artimage.org.uk|accessdate=4 October 2018}} Engaged in a process that explores the act of painting itself, she works on a variety of supports.

In 2011, American art critic and painter Jason Stopa, writing for NY Arts magazine, observed that "Umerle arrives at her imagery via a hyper formalism that makes no distinction between medium, surface, and support".[http://mmofa.org/view/2014-gifts Madison Museum of Fine Arts. Julie Umerle] Her paintings "exist at the meeting point of decision and accident",{{cite web|url=http://fadmagazine.com/2010/01/06/julie-umerle-cosmos-or-chaos|title=JULIE UMERLE COSMOS OR CHAOS Through to January 24th 2010 - FAD Magazine|date=6 January 2010|publisher=|accessdate=4 October 2018}} making the viewer aware of the trail of the brush, the pressure of the artist's hand and the degree to which one mark can differ under varying circumstances, setting up conditions for chance and responding to the natural physicality of paint itself.

Of her work, British artist and art historian Simon Morley has written:

"Her paintings evoke a feeling of suspension, as if what we see is a held or frozen moment within an ongoing process. This sense of simplicity is achieved through an enormous process of condensation, resulting in a level of clarity and unity that permeates the work."{{cite book|last=Umerle |first=Julie |title=Cosmos or Chaos|oclc = 885023655}}

In 2022, Artnet described her series of geometric paintings as:

"a formidable synthesis of the rich traditions of color field painting and geometric abstraction. Her subtle and meticulous canvases in many ways operate as investigations into the myriad of ways color, shape, and scale interact, both within a single composition as well as across series."[https://news.artnet.com/buyers-guide/7-questions-for-julie-umerle-2022-2233963 Artnet News. 7 Questions for Painter Julie Umerle. 21 December 2022]

Her paintings are held in public and private collections including The Deutsche Bank Collection, The Connaught, Pinsent Masons and Swindon Art Gallery.{{cite web|url=https://artuk.org/discover/artists/umerle-julie|publisher=ArtUK|date=|accessdate=2017-06-07|title=ArtUK|archive-date=21 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180421030433/https://artuk.org/discover/artists/umerle-julie|url-status=dead}}

Awards and recognition

Umerle has received numerous awards and grants for her work, including the Greater London Arts Association award (1983 and 1988); five awards from Arts Council England (2005, 2007,[https://www.collegeart.org/pdf/caa-news-print-archive/caa-news-11-07.pdf Grants, Awards, and Honors - College Art Association - CAA News - November 2007. Advancing the history, interpretation, and practice of the visual arts for over a century] 2008, 2015 and 2021); an award from the Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation (2001); and an award from London Arts Board (1996).