Born in Montreal, Canada on November 17, 1955, Jean Jacques Bastarache and his family moved to Detroit, Michigan in 1957. After high school he attended The Center for Creative Studies where he studied illustration, design, and painting.
Jean worked for fourteen years on the Ford assembly line in Wayne, Michigan where he spray-painted the final coat of enamel on thousands of well-loved Ford Broncos.
He escaped to the West Coast in 1989 and became an active scenic artist for a number of popular television shows. All the while he worked on his own paintings inside of a gigantic 12,000 sq. ft. raw space in downtown L.A. while collaborating with the Rico Gallery that displayed in the same location. For over 15 years he was involved in the curation and installation of over 100 exhibitions. He was also a major installer for the Corpro Nason Gallery, Santa Monica.
Jean’s one man shows titled “Mindscapes” and “Deep Down” took place in Santa Monica, California in The Rico Gallery, on Main Street, 1994 and on the Pier Avenue Gallery, 1999. Both sold out.
Jean also collaborated with Ed “Big Daddy” Roth for over 8 years. Roth sent him black and white renderings, which Jean would enlarge and turn into colorful oil paintings of the ubiquitous Roth’s iconic car and Rat Fink images. Jean was also enlisted to create classical watershed paintings that Roth would spoof on for the exhibition entitled “Rat Fink Meets Fred Flypogger Meets Cootchy Cooty,” at the Julie Rico Gallery. This was a rare showing as it was the first time Roth (via Jean Bastarache) showed with Robert Willams and Stanley Mouse. The paintings from this exhibition are commemorated in a book titled The Art of Ed Big Daddy Roth, published by Corpro Nason, 1994.
Jean’s work has been featured in numerous publications including Art Alternatives, Juxtapoz, and Emboss magazine. He also produced artwork for various punk groups as well as the CD package for the punk band P.O.D., Atlantic Records, arbiter V.P. John Rubeli, Southtown, 1999.
Currently Jean creates commissioned paintings for art collectors and provides specialty treatments, faux interiors, and mural design for residential dwellings throughout Southern California.