Skip to main content
Almine Rech

Jean-Baptiste Bernadet and Benoit Platéus Sea Level

8 — Jan 23, 2016 | London, Savile Row

“Sea levels will rise, experts warn, and it’s not going to stop.”
—LA Times, August 27, 2015

The sea level can be used as a supposedly stable reference to measure altitude, but, in reality, it is a fluctuating point of reference as its value varies with time and space. While sea level fluctuations often hit newspaper headlines, raising alarm of coastal areas being submerged, they remind us above all of the elusive nature of any point of origin. More than just the coast, rising water levels engulf any claim for the ‘original’.

The fluidity of shapes and their inevitably temporary nature are central to the new paintings presented by Jean-Baptiste Bernadet, partnered with sculptures by Benoît Platéus. Initiated during a residency in Los Angeles during the spring of 2015, Bernadet’s Black Paintings reintroduce the artist’s earlier use of the color black. While the title of the series refers to Ad Reinhardt’s black monochromes, Bernadet’s paintings function…

Press release

  • read or download in English

Selected artworks

  • Jean-Baptiste Bernadet,                                      Untitled (Black Paintings), 2016

    Jean-Baptiste Bernadet Untitled (Black Paintings), 2016

    Oil on canvas, artist’s frame (4 paintings 100 x 150 cm)

  • Jean-Baptiste Bernadet,                                      Untitled (Black Paintings), 2016

    Jean-Baptiste Bernadet Untitled (Black Paintings), 2016

    Oil on canvas, artist’s frame (4 paintings 100 x 150 cm)

  • Jean-Baptiste Bernadet,                                      Untitled (Black Paintings), 2016

    Jean-Baptiste Bernadet Untitled (Black Paintings), 2016

    Oil on canvas, artist’s frame (4 paintings 100 x 150 cm)

  • Jean-Baptiste Bernadet,                                      Untitled (Black Paintings), 2016

    Jean-Baptiste Bernadet Untitled (Black Paintings), 2016

    Oil on canvas, artist’s frame (4 paintings 100 x 150 cm)

  • Jean-Baptiste Bernadet,                                      Untitled (Grey Matters LA-AR-03), 2015

    Jean-Baptiste Bernadet Untitled (Grey Matters LA-AR-03), 2015

    Oil on palette paper, Perspex frame
    31,5 x 41,5 cm
    12 3/8 x 16 3/8 inches

  • Jean-Baptiste Bernadet,                                      Untitled (Grey Matters LA-AR-04), 2015

    Jean-Baptiste Bernadet Untitled (Grey Matters LA-AR-04), 2015

    Oil on palette paper, Perspex frame
    31,5 x 41,5 cm
    12 3/8 x 16 3/8 inches

  • Jean-Baptiste Bernadet,                                      Untitled (Grey Matters LA-AR-05), 2015

    Jean-Baptiste Bernadet Untitled (Grey Matters LA-AR-05), 2015

    Oil on palette paper, Perspex frame
    31,5 x 41,5 cm
    12 3/8 x 16 3/8 inches

  • Jean-Baptiste Bernadet,                                      Untitled (Grey Matters LA-AR-06), 2015

    Jean-Baptiste Bernadet Untitled (Grey Matters LA-AR-06), 2015

    Oil on palette paper, Perspex frame
    31,5 x 41,5 cm
    12 3/8 x 16 3/8 inches

  • Jean-Baptiste Bernadet,                                      Untitled (Grey Matters LA-AR-08), 2015

    Jean-Baptiste Bernadet Untitled (Grey Matters LA-AR-08), 2015

    Oil on palette paper, Perspex frame
    31,5 x 41,5 cm
    12 3/8 x 16 3/8 inches

  • Benoit Platéus,                                      Kodak Flexicolor, 2015

    Benoit Platéus Kodak Flexicolor, 2015

    Urethane
    29 x 14 x 9 cm
    11 3/8 x 5 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches

  • Benoit Platéus,                                      Kodak Flexicolor, 2015

    Benoit Platéus Kodak Flexicolor, 2015

    Urethane
    26 x 15 x 15 cm

  • Benoit Platéus,                                      Kodak Flexicolor, 2016

    Benoit Platéus Kodak Flexicolor, 2016

    Urethane
    32 x 14 x 14 cm

  • Benoit Platéus,                                      Ilford, 2015

    Benoit Platéus Ilford, 2015

    Urethane
    21 x 8 x 7 cm
    8 1/4 x 3 1/8 x 2 3/4 inches

  • Benoit Platéus,                                      Fuji Hunt, 2015

    Benoit Platéus Fuji Hunt, 2015

    Urethane
    13 x 5 x 4 cm
    5 1/8 x 2 x 1 5/8 inches

  • Benoit Platéus,                                      Fuji Hunt, 2011

    Benoit Platéus Fuji Hunt, 2011

    Urethane
    24 x 15 x 8 cm
    9 1/2 x 5 7/8 x 3 1/8 inches

  • Benoit Platéus,                                      Kodak Flexicolor, 2015

    Benoit Platéus Kodak Flexicolor, 2015

    Urethane
    24 x 8 x 8 cm
    9 1/2 x 3 1/8 x 3 1/8 inches

  • Benoit Platéus,                                      Ilford, 2015

    Benoit Platéus Ilford, 2015

    Urethane
    21 x 8 x 7 cm
    8 1/4 x 3 1/8 x 2 3/4 inches

  • Benoit Platéus,                                      Fuji Hunt, 2015

    Benoit Platéus Fuji Hunt, 2015

    Fuji Hunt, 2015
    Urethane
    24 x 15 x 8 cm
    9 1/2 x 5 7/8 x 3 1/8 inches

  • Benoit Platéus,                                      Kodak, 2015

    Benoit Platéus Kodak, 2015

    Urethane
    13 x 12 x 9 cm
    5 1/8 x 4 3/4 x 3 1/2 inches

  • Benoit Platéus,                                      Kodak Flexicolor, 2015

    Benoit Platéus Kodak Flexicolor, 2015

    Urethane
    29 x 14 x 9 cm
    11 3/8 x 5 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches

  • Benoit Platéus,                                      Ilford, 2015

    Benoit Platéus Ilford, 2015

    Urethane
    21 x 8 x 7 cm
    8 1/4 x 3 1/8 x 2 3/4 inches

  • Benoit Platéus,                                      Kodak Flexicolor, 2015

    Benoit Platéus Kodak Flexicolor, 2015

    Urethane
    32 x 15 x 15 cm
    12 5/8 x 5 7/8 x 5 7/8 inches

  • Benoit Platéus,                                      Kodak Flexicolor, 2015

    Benoit Platéus Kodak Flexicolor, 2015

    Urethane
    32 x 15 x 15 cm
    12 5/8 x 5 7/8 x 5 7/8 inches

  • Benoit Platéus,                                      Kodak Flexicolor, 2015

    Benoit Platéus Kodak Flexicolor, 2015

    Urethane
    24 x 8 x 8 cm
    9 1/2 x 3 1/8 x 3 1/8 inches

Artists