Julian Brown is a mixed-reality artist, pivoting from a career as a graphic designer and digital animator. A graduate of York and Sheridan in Toronto, his commercial video work has earned awards internationally and he’s lectured at events and universities in Canada and the UK.

As an emerging artist, Brown has participated in the Bankside Artist Residency (2024) in London, England, working in a fishbowl-style open studio for eight weeks. He was selected for Digital Art Month (2021) in France, and his work has been exhibited across Ontario: Trinity Square Video (2026), Museum of Dufferin (2021), Art Gallery of Northumberland (2022), and the Town of Cobourg (2023).

Having spent a large portion of his life in front of digital screens, Julian’s art practice is an outlet for critiquing society’s relationship with technology. His work engages with consumption, connection and gratification, asking viewers to question our transactions with the digital world.

ARTIST’S STATEMENT

Since 2020, QR codes have become ubiquitous—a predictable, often overlooked addition to our visual culture. Yet they bridge the shrinking gap between our physical and digital worlds. This link between opposites is reflected in their typical black-and-white appearance. In my AR artworks, the lowly QR is no longer just a link. It becomes the feature presentation.

My work pairs digitally printed 2D pieces with 3D augmented reality (AR) to reveal large-scale digital kinetic sculptures. The animated AR thrusts out into the world to surprise viewers, subverting their expectations and integrating into the surrounding physical space.

Since my works are experienced through a screen, the act of viewing and sharing is its own self-aware critique of our relationship with our devices. I hope this push-and-pull leaves a lasting impression, making viewers smile the next time they scan a ‘normal’ QR code in their everyday lives.