Jean Jullien: Oops, Raté
2026.05.20 - 2027.09.05
To commemorate the opening of the Wooyang Center for Arts Education, the Wooyang Museum of Art is hosting a new exhibition by French contemporary artist Jean Jullien titled *Raté*. The Wooyang Center for Arts Education is founded on an educational philosophy that seeks to view art not merely as an object of appreciation, but as a process of self-experience, questioning, and exploration, for everyone from children and adolescents to adults. This inaugural exhibition symbolically reveals the center's direction of discovering the meaning of art through imagination, trial and error, and the creative process itself, rather than through the finished product.
Jean Jullien observes the daily lives and society of modern people with a distinctive sense of humor and wit, presenting works that traverse various media including drawing, painting, sculpture, installation, and animation. Capturing emotions and moments that everyone can relate to through simple yet friendly lines and characters, his works propose a visual language open to both children and adults. In his work, drawing is not merely a preparatory stage for reaching a finished image, but the most direct method of creation where thoughts are born, move, and expand into new forms.
The word "Raté" in the exhibition title is French for "failed" or "missed." However, Jean Jullien does not use this word to simply signify frustration or failure. Instead, he focuses on the potential hidden within it. Bearing the meaning of "failed attempt," this title is also a playful wordplay that embodies the idea that, in reality, no such thing as a failed attempt exists. The character "Paper Boy" in the exhibition is depicted as a living being who stands proudly, taking the form of crumpled paper. The artist conveys that even moments considered failures can lead to new possibilities within the creative process.
This exhibition is specifically designed to allow children and adolescents to directly experience the creative process. Rather than merely displaying finished results, it explores together how an idea is born, transformed, and repeated to lead to new images. Within the exhibition space, which is structured around the world of Jean Jullien's drawings, visitors enter a vast imaginative environment. Large panels in the form of crumpled paper and sculptures placed throughout the space unfold like thoughts that have just sprung from the artist's studio, while the 4.5-meter-tall sculpture *Paper Boy* adds power to the landscape of creation, filled with drawings, paper, and countless ideas.
The papers placed in the exhibition space are not merely backgrounds or sculptures. Installed on walls, laid on the floor, or folded and scattered, the papers become a place where ideas reside and grow. Papers that appear crumpled and discarded are reborn as new entities, symbolizing that unfinished thoughts and failed attempts can also lead to new possibilities. In this space, visitors encounter the moment when creation begins amidst lines drawn before a perfect result, forms that spread differently from the plan, and accidental mistakes.
Today, we are constantly surrounded by refined images and finished results through social media and AI technology. Fast, smooth, and flawless images sometimes put pressure on us to avoid making mistakes. *Ratté* takes the opposite view, suggesting that the possibility of creation can begin even amidst imperfect attempts, failures, and mistakes.
"Achacha Raté" asks the audience: Why do we fear making mistakes? Is a mistake truly failure, or is it just another name for the beginning of creation? Launched in resonance with the art education philosophy of the Wooyang Arts Education Center, this exhibition proposes a new perspective on art from an educational standpoint for all generations, not just children and adolescents. Through this exhibition, we hope to convey to the audience the courage that "there are no mistakes" in the creative process, and the imagination that every attempt can be a new beginning.
To celebrate the opening of the Wooyang Center for Arts Education, Wooyang Museum presents 《Raté》, a new exhibition by French contemporary artist Jean Jullien. The Wooyang Center for Arts Education begins with an educational philosophy that understands art not simply as something to be viewed, but as a process to be experienced, questioned, and explored by children, teenagers, and adults alike. As the Center's inaugural exhibition, 《Raté》 symbolically reflects this direction, inviting audiences to discover the meaning of art not only in finished outcomes, but also in imagination, trial and error, and the act of making itself.
Jean Jullien has long observed everyday life and contemporary society with his distinctive humor and wit, working across drawing, painting, sculpture, installation, and animation. Through simple yet familiar lines and characters, his work captures emotions and moments that resonate with audiences of all ages. In Jullien's practice, drawing is not merely a preparatory stage leading toward a completed image. Rather, it is the most immediate form of creation — a space where thoughts are born, move, and expand into new forms.
The word Raté in the exhibition title is French for “failed” or “missed.” Yet Jullien does not use the word simply to refer to frustration or failure. Instead, he turns our attention to the possibilities hidden within it. Carrying the meaning of a “failed attempt,” the title also becomes a playful wordplay that suggests there may, in fact, be no such thing as a failed attempt. The character "Paper boy" appears in the exhibition as a crumpled piece of paper — yet it stands proudly, full of life. Through this figure, the artist reminds us that moments we consider mistakes or failures can also lead to new possibilities within the creative process.
This exhibition has been especially conceived to allow children and young people to experience the process of creation firsthand. Rather than presenting only finished works, it explores how a single idea is born, transformed, repeated, and connected to new images. Within an exhibition space shaped by Jullien's drawings, visitors enter a vast environment of imagination. Large crumpled paper panels and sculptures placed throughout the space unfold like thoughts that have just sprung from the artist's studio, while the 4.5-meter-tall sculpture Paper Boy adds further energy to this landscape of drawing, paper, and countless ideas.
The papers in the exhibition are not mere backgrounds or sculptural elements. Installed on walls, placed on the floor, folded, scattered, and crumpled, they become places where ideas pause, grow, and take shape. What may appear to be discarded or failed is reborn as a new presence, symbolizing how unfinished thoughts and mistaken attempts can open onto other possibilities. In this space, visitors encounter the moment creation begins — in the first line drawn before perfection, in forms that spread beyond intention, and in accidents that arise by chance.
Today, we are constantly surrounded by refined images and polished results through social media and AI technology. Fast, seamless, and flawless images can sometimes place pressure on us not to make mistakes. 《Raté》 speaks from the opposite side. It tells us that creative possibility can begin precisely in imperfect attempts, failures, and mistakes.
《Raté》 asks its visitors: Why are we afraid of making mistakes? Is a mistake truly a failure, or could it be another name for the beginning of creation? Initiated in sympathy with the educational philosophy of the Wooyang Center for Arts Education, this exhibition offers not only children and teenagers, but audiences of all generations, a renewed perspective on art as an educational experience. Through this exhibition, we hope visitors will carry with them the courage to believe that “there are no mistakes” in the creative process, and the imagination to see every attempt as the beginning of something new.
Jean Jullien: Oops, Raté
2026.05.20 - 2027.09.05
To commemorate the opening of the Wooyang Center for Arts Education, the Wooyang Museum of Art is hosting a new exhibition by French contemporary artist Jean Jullien titled *Raté*. The Wooyang Center for Arts Education is founded on an educational philosophy that seeks to view art not merely as an object of appreciation, but as a process of self-experience, questioning, and exploration, for everyone from children and adolescents to adults. This inaugural exhibition symbolically reveals the center's direction of discovering the meaning of art through imagination, trial and error, and the creative process itself, rather than through the finished product.
Jean Jullien observes the daily lives and society of modern people with a distinctive sense of humor and wit, presenting works that traverse various media including drawing, painting, sculpture, installation, and animation. Capturing emotions and moments that everyone can relate to through simple yet friendly lines and characters, his works propose a visual language open to both children and adults. In his work, drawing is not merely a preparatory stage for reaching a finished image, but the most direct method of creation where thoughts are born, move, and expand into new forms.
The word "Raté" in the exhibition title is French for "failed" or "missed." However, Jean Jullien does not use this word to simply signify frustration or failure. Instead, he focuses on the potential hidden within it. Bearing the meaning of "failed attempt," this title is also a playful wordplay that embodies the idea that, in reality, no such thing as a failed attempt exists. The character "Paper Boy" in the exhibition is depicted as a living being who stands proudly, taking the form of crumpled paper. The artist conveys that even moments considered failures can lead to new possibilities within the creative process.
This exhibition is specifically designed to allow children and adolescents to directly experience the creative process. Rather than merely displaying finished results, it explores together how an idea is born, transformed, and repeated to lead to new images. Within the exhibition space, which is structured around the world of Jean Jullien's drawings, visitors enter a vast imaginative environment. Large panels in the form of crumpled paper and sculptures placed throughout the space unfold like thoughts that have just sprung from the artist's studio, while the 4.5-meter-tall sculpture *Paper Boy* adds power to the landscape of creation, filled with drawings, paper, and countless ideas.
The papers placed in the exhibition space are not merely backgrounds or sculptures. Installed on walls, laid on the floor, or folded and scattered, the papers become a place where ideas reside and grow. Papers that appear crumpled and discarded are reborn as new entities, symbolizing that unfinished thoughts and failed attempts can also lead to new possibilities. In this space, visitors encounter the moment when creation begins amidst lines drawn before a perfect result, forms that spread differently from the plan, and accidental mistakes.
Today, we are constantly surrounded by refined images and finished results through social media and AI technology. Fast, smooth, and flawless images sometimes put pressure on us to avoid making mistakes. *Ratté* takes the opposite view, suggesting that the possibility of creation can begin even amidst imperfect attempts, failures, and mistakes.
"Achacha Raté" asks the audience: Why do we fear making mistakes? Is a mistake truly failure, or is it just another name for the beginning of creation? Launched in resonance with the art education philosophy of the Wooyang Arts Education Center, this exhibition proposes a new perspective on art from an educational standpoint for all generations, not just children and adolescents. Through this exhibition, we hope to convey to the audience the courage that "there are no mistakes" in the creative process, and the imagination that every attempt can be a new beginning.
To celebrate the opening of the Wooyang Center for Arts Education, Wooyang Museum presents 《Raté》, a new exhibition by French contemporary artist Jean Jullien. The Wooyang Center for Arts Education begins with an educational philosophy that understands art not simply as something to be viewed, but as a process to be experienced, questioned, and explored by children, teenagers, and adults alike. As the Center's inaugural exhibition, 《Raté》 symbolically reflects this direction, inviting audiences to discover the meaning of art not only in finished outcomes, but also in imagination, trial and error, and the act of making itself.
Jean Jullien has long observed everyday life and contemporary society with his distinctive humor and wit, working across drawing, painting, sculpture, installation, and animation. Through simple yet familiar lines and characters, his work captures emotions and moments that resonate with audiences of all ages. In Jullien's practice, drawing is not merely a preparatory stage leading toward a completed image. Rather, it is the most immediate form of creation — a space where thoughts are born, move, and expand into new forms.
The word Raté in the exhibition title is French for “failed” or “missed.” Yet Jullien does not use the word simply to refer to frustration or failure. Instead, he turns our attention to the possibilities hidden within it. Carrying the meaning of a “failed attempt,” the title also becomes a playful wordplay that suggests there may, in fact, be no such thing as a failed attempt. The character "Paper boy" appears in the exhibition as a crumpled piece of paper — yet it stands proudly, full of life. Through this figure, the artist reminds us that moments we consider mistakes or failures can also lead to new possibilities within the creative process.
This exhibition has been especially conceived to allow children and young people to experience the process of creation firsthand. Rather than presenting only finished works, it explores how a single idea is born, transformed, repeated, and connected to new images. Within an exhibition space shaped by Jullien's drawings, visitors enter a vast environment of imagination. Large crumpled paper panels and sculptures placed throughout the space unfold like thoughts that have just sprung from the artist's studio, while the 4.5-meter-tall sculpture Paper Boy adds further energy to this landscape of drawing, paper, and countless ideas.
The papers in the exhibition are not mere backgrounds or sculptural elements. Installed on walls, placed on the floor, folded, scattered, and crumpled, they become places where ideas pause, grow, and take shape. What may appear to be discarded or failed is reborn as a new presence, symbolizing how unfinished thoughts and mistaken attempts can open onto other possibilities. In this space, visitors encounter the moment creation begins — in the first line drawn before perfection, in forms that spread beyond intention, and in accidents that arise by chance.
Today, we are constantly surrounded by refined images and polished results through social media and AI technology. Fast, seamless, and flawless images can sometimes place pressure on us not to make mistakes. 《Raté》 speaks from the opposite side. It tells us that creative possibility can begin precisely in imperfect attempts, failures, and mistakes.
《Raté》 asks its visitors: Why are we afraid of making mistakes? Is a mistake truly a failure, or could it be another name for the beginning of creation? Initiated in sympathy with the educational philosophy of the Wooyang Center for Arts Education, this exhibition offers not only children and teenagers, but audiences of all generations, a renewed perspective on art as an educational experience. Through this exhibition, we hope visitors will carry with them the courage to believe that “there are no mistakes” in the creative process, and the imagination to see every attempt as the beginning of something new.