When BFA student Julian Harper first received the email notifying him that he was one of 10 finalists for the BLOOOM Award by WARSTEINER, he thought it was spam. Harper, who is always searching for calls for entries, had submitted his artwork via the New York Foundation for the Arts website in August. He was excited when, three months later, he was invited to participate in a special exhibition as one of the award finalists at the prominent international art fair Art Düsseldorf in Germany, November 16 – 19. The show attracted 43,000 visitors this year.

Award-Winning Work

The curatorial focus of the special exhibition for BLOOOM Award by WARSTEINER finalists at Art Düsseldorf was to highlight the work of promising artists in the early stages of their careers. Finalists and award winners were selected by a distinguished panel of international curators and cultural producers. Out of 2,300 artists from 90 countries who applied for the award, Harper won first place with his piece “It’s Getting Hot in This Cosby Sweater.”

“It’s Getting Hot in This Cosby Sweater” was inspired by Harper’s personal experience as a small black man who wears glasses. He often hears comparisons to pop culture personalities Steve Urkel, Bill Cosby or Mars Blackmon.  

“People can’t help but use caricatures to relate to me,” Harper said. “In an honest attempt to connect with me, people bring up characters I find quite troubling. We are in an age where we have to talk about consequences rather than intentions.”

“This Cosby Sweater” embodies what Harper hopes to accomplish in his artwork. He uses art—and often humor—to stimulate productive conversations about race. Otherwise, these conversations are loaded, Harper explained, and usually happen after traumatic events, such as the OJ Simpson trial, violent protests or 9/11.₁

“I really wish to educate about the black experience, and how race is not monolithic,” Harper said. “All these peoples experience such a great diversity of life that is hard to explain.”

Getting Uncomfortable

While Harper recognizes that he has little control over how viewers experience his art, he hopes that they will start to notice uncomfortable patterns in the information they sift through daily.

“I make a lot of funny things, but I think if people stay long enough it becomes a little disturbing,” he said. “I want to create a habit of evaluating all of the things we see, especially when it deals with people.”

Mentorship in the Art Department

Surprising to Harper was that many of the finalists were older than himself and had more professional experience. Some of them had been featured in galleries and significant solo exhibitions. Harper was the only finalist still in his undergraduate studies, so it was “a little surreal” when a gallery owner asked who his agent was.

Harper credited the BYU Art Department for helping him be professional in his interactions with others during this experience.

“The BYU Art Department is really top-notch, especially for an undergraduate program,” he said. “They teach it as if we’re graduate students.”

As an art student, Harper said he works closely with the faculty to think conceptually and make high quality work that he cares about. During the semester that he made “This Cosby Sweater” for his time-based art class, Harper met with his advisor, Assistant Professor Jen Orton, every week.

Harper has also participated in several experiential learning projects led by faculty members, including the “Bee in the Bonnet” and the Summer Intensive Program, where he has learned firsthand the quality of work he wants to produce.

“Without the input and the know-how and the criticism that I get from art faculty, I don’t think I would have been able to go to Art Düsseldorf at all,” Harper said.

Paving the Future

As the first-place winner, Harper received prize money to continue funding his art-making, a funded trip to the major international art fair, Art Basel Miami Beach in 2018, and a year long mentorship with the artistic director of Art Düsseldorf, Walter Gehlen. The mentorship includes the opportunity to define goals together and to network with Gehlen’s connections, which Harper said will be instrumental in paving a way for his future. While in Germany, Harper also made international connections with galleries and other artists he may collaborate with in the future.

After he graduates in April 2019, Harper plans to earn an MFA in Europe and hopes to one day become a professor.

“I think that academia holds a lot of benefits to society, and hopefully I can be a part of that,” Harper said. “I believe that art is more necessary than ever in our society. It allows people to express what they feel is important.”