BERTHO BLAZES NEW TRAIL IN MODERN ART - Making of a 21st Century Master

PHILIPPE BERTHO BLAZES A NEW TRAIL IN CONTEMPORARY MODERN ART - Part I The Making of a 21st Century Master

BY STEVE SETUM - DEALER OF FINE ARTS/ ART CRITIC

                Philippe Bertho was written up by Art Critic William Zimmer of the NY Times as being "one of the most innovative artists in the art world today," Philippe has remained humble through the last seven years of his meteoric rise to art stardom. Though he can render reproductions of Masterworks perfectly, Phillipe has followed his heart and his soul and has broken new ground in the art world.           

                Influences coming from everything from quirky characters that he sees on the streets of major cities while passing by in a taxi cab to bubbles rising up from his washing machine and kitchen sink to his fascination and curiosity with the shape and texture of popcorn show up in Philippe's cutting-edge hip and modern paintings which carry a fun and optimistic tone while poking fun at the complexities of modern day life.

"Through my art, I create a visual story that only the viewer can complete by using their intellect, imagination and sense of humor."

 -- Philippe Bertho

                Philippe Bertho was written up by Williiam Zimmer of the NY TIMES...as one of the most innovative and cutting-edge artists in the world today. Philppe has been a lumberjack, a salesman, a warehouse man, and now a true innovator in the world wide arena of fine art.

                His influences range from Norman Rockwell to Miro and from Pop Art and Trompe L'oeil to Rococo -  A style of art, especially architecture and decorative art, that originated in France in the early 18th century and is marked by elaborate ornamentation, as with a profusion of scrolls, foliage, and animal forms.

                His style is unique, utilizing elements of trompe l'oeil, tricking of the eye, where Philippe achieves a very 3-Dimensional effect while painting on a flat surface with his quirky characters sitting , dancing or darting through worm holes and circles exploring new surrealistic space. Art Historians have said they have never seen anything quite like it before.

                But when a true artist finds his voice, the results can be nothing short of masterful. And masterful is the best word to describe this extraordinary artwork.
  Philippe Bertho is classically trained having enrolled in art school in Reims, France in the early 1990s. There, he spent considerable time studying decorative trompe l’oeil painting. Tromp l’oeil (“to fool the eye”) is a technique used by artists to create the illusion of a 3rd dimension on a flat surface. As a technique with which Bertho has grown adept, it is obvious from his artwork that he fools more than the eye - he draws one in by the heart and also quite frequently by the funny bone. 
  Despite his ability to perfectly render reproductions of master works, Bertho was drawn to the world of fantasy and illusion. As his style developed, he drew inspiration from renowned contemporary trompe-l’oeil artist, Jacques Poirier. In his early work, Bertho exhibited ingenuity by including unusual materials in his paintings. Employing objects that other’s found useless – corrugated iron, rusted metal boxes, old light bulbs – he was fascinated with his ability to bring his art alive by creating dimension – either by the addition of these items directly onto his canvas or later through the technique of trompe l’oeil.
  In 1995, Bertho’s artwork garnered accolades at the Regards sur les Arts salon show - a new talent showcase in Lamballe, France. He was well on his way to developing his unique approach to trompe l’oeil painting. The style that he developed cast a new look on everyday objects, transporting the viewer into an imaginative and rich world. It has been said that Bertho’s paintings create a world where the whimsical meets the witty, a juncture between the fanciful and the eccentric. And into his paintings, Bertho inserts mischievous characters – climbing, searching, running, thinking - each painting evolving into a “hyper-realist” world, little scenarios of his own ingenious invention.
  Most recently, his attention has turned towards Pop Art. Using a combination of narrative figuration and Pop inspiration, the result has become the basis for his simple, thought-provoking artworks. It is as if these works define the phrase, “the more you look, the more there is to see.” In an artistic sense, his technique is precise, crisp and masterful.

“What are we thinking when we view his artwork?”

                 In an imaginative sense, the surreal nature of his artwork begs the question, “What was the artist thinking when he painted this?” Perhaps the question should be, more accurately, “What are we thinking when we view his artwork?” The tiny characters that inhabit the bizarre world created by Bertho’s paintings seem to nonchalantly accept the ridiculous situations they find themselves in, as if it is perfectly normal to read a newspaper or do a tap dance while perched inside of a bubble.

“The more you look, the more there is to see.”

         Others seem determined to explore the illusory three-dimensional space of the canvas - climbing in and out of spheres as children do on a playground. It seems absurd that they are not dismayed at their surroundings - or is it absurd that we are?
  There are no correct answers, only more questions posed by viewing each of Bertho’s imaginative paintings. There are as many different responses as there are people viewing his artwork. This is precisely what makes his work attractive and confounding, simplistic and complex, all at once.
  Philippe Bertho is an extraordinary new and young talent and he is beginning to garner strong attention within and from outside of the art world.

Steve Setum is an American art critic, writer, songwriter and dealer of fine arts who loves discovering and promoting new, cutting-edge, avant-garde artists and performers. He spends his time touring cultural events, museums and art galleries in California, Washington, Vancouver, BC, New York, Chicago and Hawaii.

Contact Steve with your comments. E-mail: artconnoisseur@aol.com