Clément Poplineau (b.1991, Lyon, France) paints Renaissance-like, realistic portraits of French banlieue youngsters. Clément Poplineau uses historical métier for contemporary tableaus. 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 and Everyday Gallery where he had solo exhibitions 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).