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
Frontrunner Magazine Interview, May 2017www.frontrunnermagazine.com
Jean-Baptiste Bernadet : Between Spectacle and SubversionEssay by Alex Bacon, 2016English and French PDF
A Summer TalkInterview with Anne Pontégnie, Summer 2016English and French PDF
Art Press 433, May 2016English and French PDF
Piero Bisello in Conceptual Fine Art, Interview, 2015www.conceptualfinearts.com
Alex Bacon in Brooklyn Rail Review, 2014English PDF Megan Christiansen in Post New Interview, 2013English PDF Christopher Schreck in Le Salon, 2012www.welcometolesalon.beRaphaël Pirenne, If There is a Chance, 2011english PDFfrançais PDF
Born in Paris in 1978, he 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, among others, Almine Rech in Brussels (2020, 2016), Marfa Book Company in Marfa, Texas (2019, 2015, 2013), Alon Segev in Tel Aviv (2019, 2017), Almine Rech in Paris and Mascota in Mexico (2018), Valentin in Paris (2017, 2015), Michael Jon & Alan in Miami (2017), Almine Rech Gallery in London (2016), Retrospective in Hudson, NY, American Contemporary in New York City, Rod Barton in London (2014), Karma in New York City (2014), Torri in Paris, Renwick in New York City (2011), the Chinati Foundation in Marfa, Texas (2010).
Since 2001, he has also participated in many group shows, including at the Song Museum in Beijing and Almine Rech Gallery in Shanghai, Muhka in Antwerp (2019), NICC in Brussels, Halsey McKay in East Hampton, Ribordy in Geneva (2018), Musée de Valence (2016), Almine Rech in Paris, Michael Jon & Alan 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), Angstrom in Dallas, Texas, Klemm's Gallery in Berlin (2012), 8 rue Saint Bon in Paris, White Flags in Saint Louis, Missouri (2011), Galerie Crèvecoeur in Paris (2009), Musée des Beaux-Arts de Tourcoing (2006).