whimsical fortress opens at nanzuka art institute
The Nanzuka Art Institute in Shanghai presents JUJU’s Castle, the first solo exhibition in China by French artist Jean Jullien. Spread across multiple gallery spaces, the show comprises painting, sculpture, and installation into a spatial experience that unfolds like an imagined fortress. The presentation includes over eighty new paintings created during Jullien’s time in Tokyo, joined by three-dimensional works and a large-scale installation that turns the institute into a multi-room narrative environment.
Each room is conceived as a ‘dungeon’ within the castle, referencing the level-based structure of role-playing games. Visitors are positioned as protagonists — warrior, elf, mage, or hero — encountering fantastical creatures and settings. This transformation of the gallery into an architectural sequence gives the exhibition the pacing of an exploratory journey, moving from one immersive space to another.
images © Nanzuka Art Institute
jean jullien’s imagined worlds arrive in shanghai
JUJU’s Castle in Shanghai draws heavily from artist Jean Jullien’s personal and pop-cultural influences like manga, anime, tabletop role-playing games. Still, the show is anchored in the physicality of its staging. Walls and partitions within Nanzuka Art Institute become thresholds between imagined worlds, while scale and proportion shift from room to room to control rhythm and mood. Sculptural elements act as both standalone artworks and environmental markers, shaping the way visitors navigate the space.
Material contrasts are used to balance the playful imagery with the solidity of its architectural setting. Painted surfaces meet modeled forms, and furniture-like objects are placed with deliberate alignment, underscoring the relationship between art and the structure that houses it.
the exhibition transforms Nanzuka Art Institute into an imagined fortress
childhood memories inform JUJU’s Castle
The narrative foundation of JUJU’s Castle stems from Jean Jullien’s childhood memories of his uncle’s role-playing adventures and collections of hand-painted miniatures. These recollections become an informal blueprint for the exhibition’s layout, translating the intimacy of a private memory into a shared architectural experience. Each gallery room reflects a different narrative beat, with entryways, corners, and sightlines acting as cues for the unfolding story.
By treating the castle as a composite of rooms linked by a journey, Jullien aligns his work with principles familiar to architectural design: sequencing, spatial hierarchy, and thematic zoning. The result is a gallery transformed into a walkable story, where movement through the space mirrors movement through a fictional landscape.
JUJU’s Castle marks Jean Jullien’s first solo exhibition in China
over 80 new paintings are joined by sculptures and a large-scale installation
each gallery space is designed as a dungeon within the narrative castle
visitors navigate the exhibition as protagonists in a role playing adventure
the layout draws on Jullien’s childhood memories of fantasy worlds
the castle structure offers an immersive escape
project info:
name: JUJU’s Castle
artist: Jean Jullien | @jean_jullien
gallery: Nanzuka Art Institute | @nzai_shanghai
location: Shanghai, China
dates: July 12th — October 26th, 2025
photography: © Nanzuka Art Institute
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