Born in the Dominican Republic on January 9th, 1947. An only child raised by a single mother. He came to New York City as a teenager in 1962. He attended George Washington High School in uptown Manhattan where he grew exposed to the boiling pot of culture. He was very much Influenced by the hippie counter-culture movement of the late 60s and early 70s; which rejected the norms of mainstream. Julian always had a rough edge to him, drawn to be in nature and, the wilderness. A rebel in his own way, an old soul, deeply connected to his roots. His Taino ancestry shown through his Art, which he calls Naïve Abstract Expressionism. He paints the native, the nature around him and, his memories in various scenes of the country life where he spent so much of his childhood.

Although Julian began painting in 1989, for as long as he can remember, he has been creating art; sketching, drawing and experimenting with colors. Since a young boy intuitively developing his unique skills. He had a long Professional Career in Commercial Photography from 1985-2005; were he developed an eye for seeing what others usually overlooked. He had photographed everything from people, food and, toys, to construction sites, schools and bridges. This served as the catalyst of how he would create his future artwork.

His method: Using a blend of his own photography to capture unique images and, his vivid imagination to freestyle a sketch. This sets the tone. Then leveraging an amazing dominion to paint on canvas what nature is revealing to him he creates his works. Julian has always said people love posing for pictures and, in the same way he observes nature manifest faces of spirits that reveal themselves as if they too were posing for a photograph.

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Here at Oakey Doakey Art Gallery, we love the ocean as much as we love art. The beauty and power of nature is a major inspiration for many of our gallery’s art pieces. Because of this 5% of every art purchase through our gallery goes to our social initiative #OakeyDoakeyonamission: Artists against garbage where we use donations to organize local meetups to collect garbage from our oceans, rivers, and streams. Check our events to see when you can join the next one.