Jean-Baptiste Bernadet's paintings, in each of his series, set out to explore one of the thousands of variations that exist between the solid state of the painted canvas, with its dogged permanence of a definitive object, and the liquid state of our emotions: the continuous, distracted flux of our perceptions, the waking dream of memories that furtively surface in the constant swell of our consciousness. An art of the fugue, of the vapour of time.
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I remember as a child lying on my back staring at the clouds, seeing things I knew were only in my imagination. Even as you would point these imaginary shapes out to others, you knew, even if they said they saw them, they never quite saw exactly what you saw. You can get a similar feeling when looking at Jean-Baptiste's paintings. Not that you are necessarily looking for recognizable images in the paintings, but that you are standing in front of something that evokes that type of dreamlike thought. So much painting today deals with irony and humor. I guess this is an attempt to make painting have a more contemporary voice. What this leaves us with is the feeling of having just watched a YouTube video of a cat falling out of an armchair. This isn't, to me, the role of painting. Painting is romantic. There is no denying that. We all accept by now that heroism is over, but that doesn't mean we have to give up. Jean-Baptiste is a searcher. Someone that is looking for a meaning in his practice. The lyrical place in his paintings offers us all the possibility to dream. Something we should all take advantage of when the opportunity arises.
Stephen Felton, Catskill Mountains, August 2018
Born in Paris in 1978, Jean-Baptiste Bernadet lives and works in Brussels, and was artist-in-residence at Triangle Studios in Brooklyn in 2012, APT Studios in Brooklyn in 2011, and Chinati Foundation, Marfa, Texas, in 2010.
He is represented by Almine Rech Gallery, Alon Segev Gallery and Galerie Philippe Valentin.
His solo exhibitions include, among others, Parapet / Real Humans in St.Louis, Missouri (2023), Musées de la Citadelle de Villefranche-sur-Mer (2022), Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen (2020), Marfa Book Company in Marfa, Texas (2024, 2019, 2015, 2013), Mascota in Mexico (2018), Michael Jon & Alan in Miami (2017), Retrospective in Hudson, NY, American Contemporary in New York City, Rod Barton in London (2014), Karma in New York City (2014), Torri in Paris, Renwick in New York City (2011), the Chinati Foundation in Marfa, Texas (2010).
Since 2001, he has also participated in many group shows, including at the Peter Blum Gallery in New York City (2024), Fondation Datris in L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue (2022), Song Museum in Beijing and Almine Rech Gallery in Shanghai, Muhka in Antwerp (2019), NICC in Brussels, Halsey McKay in East Hampton, Ribordy in Geneva (2018), Musée de Valence (2016), Michael Jon & Alan in Miami, Neochrome in Turin (2015), WIELS in Brussels (2015, 2010 and 2009), Ricou Gallery and Super Dakota Gallery in Brussels (2014), Palais des Beaux-Arts de Bruxelles (2013), Angstrom in Dallas, Texas, Klemm's Gallery in Berlin (2012), 8 rue Saint Bon in Paris, White Flags in Saint Louis, Missouri (2011), Galerie Crèvecoeur in Paris (2009), Musée des Beaux-Arts de Tourcoing (2006).
Works by the artist are included in the permanent collections of the Long Museum in Shanghai, Musée d'Ixelles in Brussels, Museum Voorlinden, Wassenaar, Fonds National d'Art Contemporain / Centre National des Arts Plastiques, Museo di Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Trento e Roveretto, MAC VAL Musée d’Art Contemporain du Val-de-Marne, Fondation Louis Vuitton, Collection des Arts Plastiques de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, Mac’s Musée des Arts Contemporains de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, Thalie Foundation amongst others.