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Almine Rech

Jean-Baptiste Bernadet So Far, So Close

Apr 20 — Jul 30, 2016 | Brussels
Inquire about the exhibition: inquiries@alminerech.com

Almine Rech Gallery is pleased to present ‘So Far, So Close’, an exhibition of new work by Brussels-based artist Jean-Baptiste Bernadet. His first solo exhibition since joining the gallery last year, Bernadet will stage a presentation anchored by examples from his celebrated series of ‘Fugue’ paintings.

Bernadet produces these paintings through a deceptively simple technique. He builds up a field by taking a thin brush and progressively and systematically, if always intuitively, laying down a flurry of quick marks in his bright, almost pastel palette of oils mixed with wax and alkyd. There are slight variations in the application of each mark; the overall effect, however, is towards unity, with the field being built up in an all-over fashion. Bernadet’s goal is to prevent the eye from being able to definitively locate any points of focus such that, as he paints, the artist constantly adjusts any passages that seem to jump out at him. For this reason, any natural analogues suggested in the Fugue paintings, especially of landscape or sky, exist in terms of experience rather than iconography. His carpets of undulating color vibrate…

Press release

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Selected artworks

  • Jean-Baptiste Bernadet,                                      Untitled (Fugue 2016-10), 2016

    Jean-Baptiste Bernadet Untitled (Fugue 2016-10), 2016

    Oil and cold wax on canvas
    216 x 194,5 cm
    85 x 76 5/8 inches

  • Jean-Baptiste Bernadet,                                      Untitled (Fugue 2016-08), 2016

    Jean-Baptiste Bernadet Untitled (Fugue 2016-08), 2016

    Oil and cold wax on canvas
    216 x 194,5 cm
    85 x 76 5/8 inches

  • Jean-Baptiste Bernadet,                                      Untitled (Fugue 2016-14), 2016

    Jean-Baptiste Bernadet Untitled (Fugue 2016-14), 2016

    Oil and cold wax on canvas
    216 x 194,5 cm
    85 x 76 5/8 inches

  • Jean-Baptiste Bernadet,                                      Untitled (Fugue 2016-07), 2016

    Jean-Baptiste Bernadet Untitled (Fugue 2016-07), 2016

    Oil and cold wax on canvas
    216 x 194,5 cm
    85 x 76 5/8 inches

  • Jean-Baptiste Bernadet,                                      Untitled (Fugue 2016-11), 2016

    Jean-Baptiste Bernadet Untitled (Fugue 2016-11), 2016

    Oil and cold wax on canvas
    216 x 194,5 cm
    85 x 76 5/8 inches

  • Jean-Baptiste Bernadet,                                      Untitled (Fugue 2016-12), 2016

    Jean-Baptiste Bernadet Untitled (Fugue 2016-12), 2016

    Oil and cold wax on canvas
    216 x 194,5 cm
    85 x 76 5/8 inches

  • Jean-Baptiste Bernadet,                                      Untitled (Fugue 2016-09), 2016

    Jean-Baptiste Bernadet Untitled (Fugue 2016-09), 2016

    Oil and cold wax on canvas
    216 x 194,5 cm
    85 x 76 5/8 inches

  • Jean-Baptiste Bernadet,                                      Untitled (Fugue 2016-03), 2016

    Jean-Baptiste Bernadet Untitled (Fugue 2016-03), 2016

    Oil and cold wax on canvas
    216 x 194,5 cm
    85 x 76 5/8 inches

  • Jean-Baptiste Bernadet,                                      Untitled (Fugue 2016-02), 2016

    Jean-Baptiste Bernadet Untitled (Fugue 2016-02), 2016

    Oil and cold wax on canvas
    216 x 194,5 cm
    85 x 76 5/8 inches

  • Jean-Baptiste Bernadet,                                      Untitled (Fugue 2016-17), 2016

    Jean-Baptiste Bernadet Untitled (Fugue 2016-17), 2016

    Oil and cold wax on canvas
    216 x 194,5 cm
    85 x 76 5/8 inches

  • Jean-Baptiste Bernadet,                                      Untitled (Fugue 2016-16), 2016

    Jean-Baptiste Bernadet Untitled (Fugue 2016-16), 2016

    Oil and cold wax on canvas
    216 x 194,5 cm
    85 x 76 5/8 inches

  • Jean-Baptiste Bernadet,                                      Untitled (Fugue 2016-01), 2016

    Jean-Baptiste Bernadet Untitled (Fugue 2016-01), 2016

    Oil and cold wax on canvas
    216 x 194,5 cm
    85 x 76 5/8 inches

  • Jean-Baptiste Bernadet,                                      Untitled (Day for Night I), 2016

    Jean-Baptiste Bernadet Untitled (Day for Night I), 2016

    Oil and acrylic on canvas
    205 x 290 cm
    80 3/4 x 114 1/8 inches

  • Jean-Baptiste Bernadet,                                      Untitled (Day for Night II), 2016

    Jean-Baptiste Bernadet Untitled (Day for Night II), 2016

    Oil and acrylic on canvas
    205 x 290 cm
    80 3/4 x 114 1/8 inches

  • Jean-Baptiste Bernadet,                                      Untitled (Day for Night III), 2016

    Jean-Baptiste Bernadet Untitled (Day for Night III), 2016

    Oil and acrylic on canvas
    205 x 290 cm
    80 3/4 x 114 1/8 inches

  • Jean-Baptiste Bernadet,                                      Untitled (Day for Night V), 2016

    Jean-Baptiste Bernadet Untitled (Day for Night V), 2016

    Oil and acrylic on canvas
    205 x 290 cm
    80 3/4 x 114 1/8 inches

  • Jean-Baptiste Bernadet,                                      Untitled (Day for Night VII), 2016

    Jean-Baptiste Bernadet Untitled (Day for Night VII), 2016

    Oil and acrylic on canvas
    205 x 290 cm
    80 3/4 x 114 1/8 inches

  • Jean-Baptiste Bernadet,                                      Untitled (Sign), 2016

    Jean-Baptiste Bernadet Untitled (Sign), 2016

    Glazed lava stone
    80 x 80 cm
    31 1/2 x 31 1/2 inches

  • Jean-Baptiste Bernadet,                                      Untitled (Sign), 2016

    Jean-Baptiste Bernadet Untitled (Sign), 2016

    Glazed lava stone
    80 x 80 cm
    31 1/2 x 31 1/2 inches

  • Jean-Baptiste Bernadet,                                      Untitled (Sign), 2016

    Jean-Baptiste Bernadet Untitled (Sign), 2016

    Glazed lava stone
    80 x 80 cm
    31 1/2 x 31 1/2 inches

  • Jean-Baptiste Bernadet,                                      Untitled (Sign), 2016

    Jean-Baptiste Bernadet Untitled (Sign), 2016

    Glazed lava stone
    80 x 80 cm
    31 1/2 x 31 1/2 inches