12 Facts About Julie Umerle

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

Julie Umerle 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, Julie Umerle worked as an artist educator at a number of London galleries including The Whitechapel Gallery, The Barbican Centre, The Hayward Gallery and The Royal Academy.

Julie Umerle graduated from Parsons School of Design with a MFA in 1998, having worked as a teaching assistant there in her final year.

Julie Umerle 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.

Julie Umerle has exhibited widely in London and the UK in solo and group exhibitions, and internationally including the USA, China, France, Poland and Germany.

In 1980, Julie Umerle held a solo exhibition of her work at Frestonia's Car Breaker Gallery in London, a squat in Ladbroke Grove's Republic of Frestonia, followed a few years later by 'Ten Years of Painting' at The Barbican Arts Centre.

Julie Umerle's practice is an investigation of materials and the perception of the image.

In 2011, American art critic and painter Jason Stopa, writing for NY Arts magazine, observed that "Julie Umerle arrives at her imagery via a hyper formalism that makes no distinction between medium, surface, and support".

Julie Umerle's paintings "exist at the meeting point of decision and accident", 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.

Julie Umerle's paintings are held in public and private collections including The Deutsche Bank Collection, The Connaught, Pinsent Masons and Swindon Art Gallery.

Julie Umerle has received numerous awards and grants for her work, including the Greater London Arts Association award ; five awards from Arts Council England ; an award from the Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation ; and an award from London Arts Board.