Discover the contemporary work of Tian
Tian, whose real name is Christian Lecouble, was born in Le Mans in 1964. He grew up in the working-class city of Allonnes.
In 1982, he founded the Punk-Reggae group NUCLEAR DEVICE, which, driven by the alternative movement, performed intensively on the French scene until 1989. Heir to "Do It Yourself", he was already tinkering with record covers and posters.
In 1990, he recorded the album "Honky Soul Times" with the group MEGA REEFER SCRATCH, published by Sony Music.
From 1993, Tian invested more in image; he will be in turn graphic designer, web designer and artistic director.
From 2004, Tian's work slips from the screen to the canvas; he puts his skills as a photographer and computer graphics artist at the service of painting, a new discipline for him.
In 2006, he reappropriates the technique of screen printing and then that of stencil. The success of the first exhibitions encourages the professionalization of his approach. The site www.tian.fr is created.
It was in 2007 that he registered at the Maison des Artistes. He now devotes himself exclusively to painting. It was also in 2007 that he began to exhibit his work in the street, using paper collages on the walls of Le Mans and Paris.
2009 was a year focused on international projects: a first exploratory stay in New York and a first exhibition in London. The artist got involved in the project “Streetart Without Borders” which allowed him to showcase his work in Europe and Brazil.
In 2011, the residency "Espace Provisoire" at the former Etoc Demazy psychiatric hospital in Le Mans, allowed him to tackle mural painting, on a very large scale.
The year 2012 saw the completion of several public commissions for frescoes, such as that of the MLC des Saulnières, in Le Mans or that of the Alban Minville Cultural Center in Toulouse.
In 2013, Tian completed a commission for several paintings for AG2R La Mondiale and exhibited his work at the group's headquarters, Bd Haussmann, in Paris.
2014 was a year focused on Eastern Europe, after a trip to Germany and Poland, Tian settled for a first residency in the post-industrial city of Lodz. Tian returned in 2015 for a second two-month residency and exhibited his work there.
In 2016, the artist traveled to England and participated in the largest street art festival in Europe: UPFEST in Bristol. Back in Le Mans, he was commissioned to create and produce three “large format” frescoes (Wilbur Wright tunnel, BeBop house and ColArt factory).
In 2017, on the occasion of the “Humaine Nature” exhibition at the K gallery, Tian produced his first limited edition screen prints.
In 2019, following a 2-month residency in Leipzig, Tian presented the exhibition “L’Usage des Plaisirs” in Le Mans.
In 2023, Tian is offering a new exhibition: “Tales of the Storm Girls”
Latest exhibition: Tales of the Storm Girls
This new exhibition by Tian explores the evolution of the image of women in the arts, in Europe and Japan, at two key moments in the history of feminism, the 1920s and the 1970s. And as in As usual, through subtle shifts, the artist makes this vintage imagery resonate with our own 2020s.
Taking up his favorite themes, not to say his obsessions (love, rage, desire, ambivalence) Tian fuses flowers and women in a cocktail of colors and techniques of which he has the secret, revealing behind their beauty, a complexity, a combativeness and an often unsuspected or despised knowledge.
After an eclipse of a few years, Tian returns to us in full mastery of his art, unveiling a dazzling and inspiring exhibition. Which, in a subtle paradox, tells us about women who do not let themselves be told stories.
