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« When Christian Berst asked me to work with him on a new project, I didn’t hesitate for long. Our first collaboration was back in 2015, when he invited me to curate the first European exhibition of John Urho Kemp, which, in our shared enthusiasm, we titled “A Bermuda Triangle.” I vividly recall the vertiginous experience of exploring the world of “Crystal John,” as he was known in his day. The man was a veritable mathemagician. After the initial fascination of the work’s form, I became increasingly aware of the mysteriousness of its contents, which grew as we explored his archives. I found a bridge between my practice as a curator working in the world of contemporary art and the art of this creator “speaking to no obvious audience.”

Some view such mixing of DNA with suspicion: “curators” should busy themselves with their contemporary pseudo-artists and leave Art Brut to the specialists! Personally, I have never liked labels. For me, their place is on supermarket shelves and on the clothes of people that need you to know who they’re wearing. In art, all they do is organise history and fashion different specialities; take a more detached view, though, and we are all in the same place, grappling with the forms that fascinate us.

That, I believe, is the meaning of Christian Berst’s decision to open “The Bridge,” a space that can embody this much-needed iconoclastic approach. It certainly does not simplify the history and specificities of Art Brut, pre-modern art, modern art or contemporary art. Instead, it gives them a physical space where they can meet and enter into dialogue, precisely at the point where we are usually forced to cross to the other side. “The Bridge” is there to enable experiments: what happens when you hang this piece next to that one? How is our pleasure in form refreshed and how do forms acquire a new radiance when they are taken out of their assigned galaxies?

For this first exhibition, titled “Face to Face,” I propose to take a look at a subject that is universal and obvious, and yet that has become scarce in public space in recent months: the face. Combining works from the enlightened collection assembled by Laurent Nebot and from the gallery, “Face to Face” does not try to theoretise its contents but, on the contrary, is open to the “sympathetic” resonances between the works, as we say in music when one string sets another vibrating. How does a piece by Annette Messager resonate alongside a Misleidys Castillo Pedroso, or a face by Raymond Coins when placed beside Philippe Mayaux’s “Missing Link,” and how does a funeral post from the high plateaus of Vietnam vibrate with a scrawled-over face by José Manuel Egea? Let’s try it and see.  »

Gaël Charbau

Exhibited artists:

Arman, Frédéric Bruly Bouabré, Jorge Alberto Cadi, Misleidys Castillo Pedroso, Raymond Coins, José Manuel Egea, Hampatong Dayak, Anton Hirschfeld, Tetsumi Kudo, Dwight Mackintosh, Stéphane Mandelbaum, Philippe Mayaux, Annette Messager, Luboš Plný, Acharya Yakul, Carlo Zinelli.

Exhibition view of *face to face*, curated by Gaël Charbau, the bridge by christian berst, Paris, 2020 - © the bridge by christian berst, christian berst — art brut
Exhibition view of *face to face*, curated by Gaël Charbau, the bridge by christian berst, Paris, 2020 - © the bridge by christian berst, christian berst — art brut
Exhibition view of *face to face*, curated by Gaël Charbau, the bridge by christian berst, Paris, 2020 - © the bridge by christian berst, christian berst — art brut
Artworks
Please contact us to inquire about the available works.
Jorge Alberto Cadi untitled, 2015
7.09 x 9.06 in
José Manuel Egea untitled, 2017
8.66 x 11.81 in
Anton Hirschfeld untitled (self portrait), 2013
12.6 x 19.69 in
Misleidys Francisca Castillo Pedroso untitled, 2017
10.24 x 12.99 in
Luboš Plný untitled, 2013
23.23 x 33.07 in
Royal Robertson untitled, 1990
22.05 x 27.95 in
untitled - © christian berst — art brut
Carlo Zinelli untitled, 1957
9.45 x 11.42 in
Raymond Coins sans titre
9.84 x 15.75 in
untitled - © christian berst — art brut
Dwight Mackintosh untitled, 1990
11.02 x 18.11 in
Artists
Jorge Alberto Cadi - © christian berst — art brut
Jorge Alberto Cadi
portrait of misleidys castillo pedroso - © christian berst — art brut
Misleidys Francisca Castillo Pedroso
Raymond Coins - © christian berst — art brut
Raymond Coins
portrait of josé manuel egea - © christian berst — art brut
José Manuel Egea
Anton Hirschfeld - © christian berst — art brut
Anton Hirschfeld
portrait of dwight mackintosh - © christian berst — art brut
Dwight Mackintosh
Luboš Plný - © christian berst — art brut
Luboš Plný
Royal Robertson - © christian berst — art brut
Royal Robertson
Carlo Zinelli - © christian berst — art brut
Carlo Zinelli
Catalog
face to face curator : gaël charbau
face to face, curator : gaël charbau - © christian berst — art brut

Text : Gaël Charbau
Catalog published to mark the exhibition face to face, curated by gaël charbau, from february 22nd, 2020 to january 24th, 2021.

OUT OF PRINT

Press review
En manque d’expos ? Six idées de galeries à visiter
Philippe Dagen, Le Monde. December 17, 2020.
Réouverture des galeries : Backslash, Mor Charpentier, Templon, Anne-Sarah Benichou…
La Rédaction, Fomo-vox. December 1, 2020.
Déconfinement : 10 expositions gratuites à faire en galerie
Marie Maertens, Valérie De Maulmin, Virginie Huet, Connaissance Des Arts. November 28, 2020.
Christian Berst : “l’art brut est un chapitre encore à écrire”
Julie Chaizemartin, Art District Radio. November 16, 2020.
En lieu sûr - The Bridge
Élodie Cabrera, Télérama Sortir. October 28, 2020.
View more
Christian Berst, le pont des artistes
Pauline Sommelet, Point De Vue. October 28, 2020.
Christian Berst : « L’art brut est au cœur et non à la marge »
Marie-Laure Desjardins, Art Hebdo Médias. October 22, 2020.
Paris sera toujours Paris
Anne-Cécile Sanchez, Le Journal Des Arts. October 16, 2020.
Une semaine de l’art sans Fiac, mais à la carte !
Maïlys Celeux-Lanval , Beaux Arts. October 16, 2020.
Video
The bridge by christian berst BFM Paris
Collection NEBOT à la Galerie THE BRIDGE / Christian Berst. PARIS 3, jusqu’au 24 janvier 2021.[…]
Language French
face to face

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