M+B is pleased to announce In a Distant, an exhibition of new paintings by Jean-Baptiste Bernadet. The show runs from September 15 to October 27, 2018, with an opening reception on Saturday, September 15 from 6 to 8 pm.
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
Jean-Baptiste Bernadet (b. 1978, Paris) lives and works in New York and 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. His solo exhibitions include Almine Rech Gallery in Paris and Galeria Mascota in Mexico (2018), Valentin in Paris (2017, 2015), Michael Jon & Alan in Miami (2017), Almine Rech Gallery in London and in Brussels (2016), Retrospective in Hudson, NY, American Contemporary in New York City, Rod Barton in London (2014), Karma in New York City (2014), and the Chinati Foundation in Marfa, Texas (2010), among others. He has also participated in group shows at NICC in Brussels, Ribordy in Geneva (2018), Musée de Valence (2016), Almine Rech in Paris, Michael Jon in Miami, Neochrome in Turin (2015), WIELS in Brussels (2015, 2010 and 2009), Valentin in Paris, Ricou Gallery and Super Dakota Gallery in Brussels (2014), Palais des Beaux-Arts de Bruxelles (2013), Klemm's in Berlin (2012), White Flags in Saint Louis, Missouri (2011), Galerie Crèvecoeur in Paris (2009), and Musée des Beaux-Arts de Tourcoing (2006).
For inquiries, please contact info@mbart.com.