Martin Lawrence Galleries Celebrates Philippe Bertho

MLG Celebrates Philippe Bertho

Meet the Artist this May at one of our Artist Shows

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About Philippe Bertho (b.1964)

The works of Philippe Bertho are characterized by his innovative approach to both subject matter and materials. In his earlier works, he show-cased his ingenuity by depicting individuals in comical and precarious situations, and incorporating unusual materials such as rusty metal boxes, old light bulbs, and corrugated iron in his paintings. Despite bizarre settings that often conjure up uncertainty or peculiarity, his subjects exude an air of nonchalance, evoking a light-hearted atmosphere.

Typically populating his canvases with mischievous actors – climbing, searching, dancing, leaping, running, thinking – Bertho fabricates hyper- realist scenarios that immediately inspire curiosity in the viewer. This curiosity reflects the artist’s own relentless inquisitiveness, shown in his works again and again.

In Bertho’s latest compositions, he explores new expressive territory - roiling seas, celestial star-scapes, and otherworldly fields – often embel- lished with whimsical, ‘Dr. Seuss-esque,’ plumes swaying in the breeze. The feeling evokes a nostalgia for both the wonder of childhood and its fascination with nonsense, silliness, and anything that does not ‘behave.’ The work is so immersive that you cannot help becoming enthralled in these outlandish scenarios, strangely captivated by his unique vision.

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Artist Statement

It was about 2 years before the pandemic. I felt the strong need to takea fresh look at my relationship with art. The idea of starting a sharp turnin my journey began to tease me more and more. I told myself that if until then I had done things in this way, nothing except habit and a certain intel- lectual comfort should oblige me from now on to do them in the same way. I then immersed myself in the history of art, from the Italian Renaissance to today. The great artists whose names are frozen in the collective memory, but also those equally great in my opinion a little neglected by history or even completely forgotten; I told myself that the artistic experience should be like a road trip through reality, through cultures, countries, oceans, space, and that freedom should be the goal of art, and also of life.

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I changed my technical habits and tried to tame the colors together, in search of my aesthetic and freedom. A canvas is a freeze frame in a film where the wind, the sea spray, joy, humor, madness mix. A painting is a delicious effort provoked by the love of life, a gentle or violent impulse, a fever for which we especially do not want to find a cure.

Some paintings stand out from the crowd like a head that stands out above the other heads in a crowd and can be recognized in the distance. Wesee them larger in the middle of all the others and these are the ones that call you to other paintings to come, to other paintings whose shape and textures and colors will express life.”

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