JULIEN BONET - Unknown

Technique: Promptography on Hahnemühle Fine Art paper
Size: 50 x 40 cm
Edition: 3 + 1 AP
Year: 2024-25

Signed, dated and edition numbered by the artist on a separate label.

Unknown

This figure resembles a boulder, a geological relic from another time. Bonet envelops the body in a jagged mosaic of color and texture that simultaneously recalls maps, dried earth, and archaic wall paintings. The figure thus becomes a projection surface for something beyond the familiar—a being that is neither clearly human nor clearly natural, but embodies something in-between.

The unknown points to humanity's ancient fear of what cannot be named. Even in early myths, the strange marks not only danger but also a threshold of knowledge: every act of recognition begins with a moment of incomprehension. In Bonet's work, this threshold becomes physical. The costume is neither repellent nor inviting; it challenges us to look more closely—to distinguish between threat and wonder.

In a time when technological developments are advancing faster than our cultural understanding, this figure takes on a new meaning: The unknown represents the unpredictability of the future, AI, climate change, migration—issues that shape our present and whose consequences we can only guess at. Bonet's masquerades invite us not to escape this unease, but to give it form.