Bernard Aubertin

View works. Bernard Aubertin during a performance
Bernard Aubertin during a performance
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Bernard Aubertin was born in Fontenay-aux-Roses in 1934. After completing his studies at the École Nationale des Arts Décoratifs, he turned to Cubism and Futurism as a self-taught artist. A decisive moment in his development was his encounter with Yves Klein in 1957; from the following year onwards, he began creating his celebrated monochrome paintings.

Aubertin began his career as a monochrome painter with his first “rouge total” works. His research initially focused on the colour red, understood as fire and energy. He created the so-called Tableaux Feu (Fire Paintings), animating red monochrome canvases with nails (Tableaux Clous), wire (Tableaux Fil de Fer), matches (Parcours d’Allumettes) and a variety of other materials, from candles to iron mesh. His conception of painting is metaphysical: through red, he transposes the energy of the soul onto the canvas. The spiritual being reveals itself through art, and nothing more than colour could embody such a force.

From the 1960s onwards, Aubertin introduced fire into his artistic vocabulary: an expressive medium that became the physical manifestation of his red. Many of his works consist of abstract compositions made with matches that are subsequently set alight, creating spontaneous variations generated by the nature of the flame. The process through which the works are created is intrinsic to the final gesture. The viewer can clearly perceive the unfolding of this transformation. In this sense, the destructive nature of fire becomes an agent of rebirth and creation.

From 1962, Aubertin was a member of the international ZERO movement, participating in its exhibitions and corresponding with Heinz Mack, Otto Piene and Piero Manzoni. He shared with them a similar rejection of art as a conventional language, together with the conviction that it should manifest itself in a simple and austere form. Aubertin’s red works generated an energy and vibration that became emblematic of the movement.

During the 1980s and 1990s, his artistic research expanded into performances in which he himself set pianos and automobiles on fire, while in his later years the red of his monochromes was replaced by white, black and gold.

From 1990 onwards, Aubertin lived and worked in Germany, where he remained until his death in 2015.

 
Selected Solo Exhibitions

1962
Galerie Wulfengasse 14, Klagenfurt, Germania
1964
Galerie Weiller, Parigi, Francia
1967
Galerie Weiller, Parigi, Francia
Galerie M.E. Thelen, Essen, Germania
1968
Galerie Riquelme, Parigi, Francia
Maison des quatre vents, Parigi, Francia
Kleine Galerie, Francoforte sul Meno, Germania
1969
Galerie Senatore, Stoccarda, Germania
1971
Galerie Ursula Lichter, Francoforte sul Meno, Germania
1972
Centre National d’Art Contemporain, Parigi, Francia
1973
Musée de l’Abbaye Sainte-Croix, Les Sables d’Olonne, Francia
Galerie Toni Brechbuhl, Grenchen, Svizzera
1973-1974
Galerie Seebacher, Bludenz-Nuziders, Austria
1974
Galerie 2, Stoccarda, Germania
Studio Brescia, Brescia, Italia
Galleria Banco, Brescia, Italia
Studio F 22, Brescia, Italia
Studio Firenze, Firenze, Italia
Galleria Dei Mille, Bergamo, Italia
Galerie Salo, Salo, Finlandia
Galleria Delta, Salerno, Italia
1975
Studio Brescia, Brescia, Italia
Galleria Il Canale, Venezia, Italia
Galleria Il Punto, Torino, Italia
1977
Galleria Rebus, Firenze, Italia
1978
Palazzetto dello sport, Abano Terme, Italia
Galerie 44, Kaarst-Düsseldorf, Germania
1979
Galerie Weiller, Parigi, Francia
1983
Galerie J & J Donguy, Parigi, Francia
Galerie Toni Brechbuhl, Grenchen, Svizzera
1986
Galerie Charley Chevalier, Parigi, Francia
1987
Galerie Beatrix Wilhelm, Stoccarda, Germania
1988
Galerie Gilbert Brownstone & Cie, Parigi, Francia
Trous de clous, Stiftung für konkrete Kunst, Reutlingen, Germania
1989
Galerie Schoeller, Düsseldorf, Germania
Galerie Oscar Ascanio, Caracas, Venezuela
1990
Galerie Gilbert Brownstone & Cie, Parigi, Francia
Galleria Vinciano, Milano, Italia
Galerie Jousse Seguin, Parigi, Francia
1991
Kunsthaus Schaller, Stoccarda, Germania
Galerie Wack, Kaiserslautern, Germania
1991-1992
Galerie von Braunbehrens, Monaco, Germania
1993
Galerie Jousse Seguin, Parigi, Francia
Bernard Aubertin. Le rouge. Rétrospective, Stiftung für konkrete Kunst, Reutlingen, Germania
1994
Galerie Gudrun Spielvogel, Monaco, Germania
Le Feu de la couleur. Hommage à Bernard Aubertin accompagné de ses amis du mouvement Zéro,
Espace de l’art concret, Mouans-Sartoux, Francia
1995
100 x Aubertin. Konsequenzen einer Ausstellung, Stiftung für konkrete Kunst, Reutlingen, Germania
1996
Institut français, Colonia, Germania
Galerie Schoeller, Düsseldorf, Germania
1997
Bernard Aubertin Dokumentarisch, Stiftung für konkrete Kunst, Reutlingen, Germania
Bernard Aubertin. Le feu et le rouge, Ludwig Museum im Deutschherrenhaus, Coblenza, Germania
1998
Bernard Aubertin. L’ancien et le nouveau rouge, Stiftung für konkrete Kunst, Reutlingen, Germania
Galerie Durhammer, Francoforte sul Meno, Germania
1999

Tout rouge. Bernard Aubertin. Zum 65. Geburstag, Stiftung für konkrete Kunst, Reutlingen, Germania
Das Feuer und das Rot, Galerie Benden & Klimczak, Colonia, Germania
2000
Galerie Wack, Kaiserslautern, Germania
2001
Aubertin Actuel, Stiftung für konkrete Kunst, Reutlingen, Germania
Galerie Konstruktiv Tendens, Stoccolma, Svezia
2001-2002
Bernard Aubertin. Opere, Associazione culturale Area, Brescia, Italia
2002-2003
Galerie Schoeller, Düsseldorf, Germania
2003
Bernard Aubertin – Picard de Gennes, Galerie Arlette Gimaray, Parigi, Francia
2004
Bernard Aubertin. Blanc libre, Stiftung für konkrete Kunst, Reutlingen, Germania
2005
Aubertin. Le voyage à Rome / die Reise nach Rom, Stiftung für konkrete Kunst, Reutlingen, Germania
2006
Bernard Aubertin. Peintures monochromes, Galerie Jean Brolly, Parigi, Francia
Bernard Aubertin. Le rouge total, Galleria CIDAC Arte Contemporanea, Brescia, Italia
2007
Galerie Wack, Kaiserslautern, Germania
Bernard Aubertin: Dessin de Feu, Galleria Proposte d’Arte Contemporanea, Pietrasanta, Italia
Le Rouge et le Feu de Bernard Aubertin, 25° edizione Asoloartfilmfestival, Asolo, Italia
2008
Bernard Aubertin, Galleria d’Arte Rosenberg Milano, Italia
2009
Galerie de Rijk, Den Haag, Paesi Bassi
75 x Aubertin – Werke 1958-2008, Rétrospective, Stiftung für konkrete Kunst, Reutlingen, Germania
2010
Bernard Aubertin: Pleins feux, Galerie Arlette Gimaray, Parigi, Francia
Bernard Aubertin: il fuoco e il rosso, Galleria d’Arte Rosenberg, Milano, Italia
Bernard Aubertin: Tableaux-feu et monochromes, Galerie Jean Brolly, Parigi, Francia
Bernard Aubertin: Sacrifice, Galleria Comunale d’Arte Contemporanea, Arezzo, Italia
Bernard Aubertin: il percorso del fuoco, Galleria d’Arte Incontro, Chiari (BS), Italia
L’Art brûlé, performance d’arte contemporanea di Bernard Aubertin,Accademia d’Arte Cignaroli, Artantide, Verona, Italia
2011
Bernard Aubertin: Aubertin il realista: energia pura dal materiale all’immateriale, Arte Sante Moretto, Monticello Conte Otto (VC), Italia
Unlimited, project de Bernard Aubertin pour la 54° Biennale de Venise, Pavillon de la Syrie
Bernard Aubertin: Territori di fuoco,  Civico Museo Parisi-Valle Maccagno (VR), Italia
Bernard Aubertin, Bettini & C° Gallery, Vicenza, Italia
Bernard Aubertin: Le Feu et le Rouge, Studio f.22, Palazzolo (BS), Italia
Bernard Aubertin: la pittura brucia, Bonioni Arte, Reggio Emilia, Italia
Bernard Aubertin, Galleria Rosenberg, Milano, Italia
Bernard Aubertin: la poesia del fuoco, Incorniciarte, Verona, Italia
2012
Bernard Aubertin: Works from 1958-1989, The Mayor Gallery, Londra, Gran Bretagna
Bernard Aubertin: Rouge, Galleria Jean Brolly, Parigi, Francia
Mostra antologica di Bernard Aubertin, Galleria Civica Gian Battista Bosio, Desenzano del Garda (BS), Italia
Bernard Aubertin: il percorso del fuoco, Museo della Città di Chiari (BS), Italia
Interventions sul le bâtiment, Bernard Aubertin: performance pyromanique, Palais de Tokyo, Parigi, Francia
Bernard Aubertin, œuvres récentes, Instituto d’Arte Francese, Milano, Italia
Bernard Aubertin, Galleria Rosenberg, Milano, Italia
Bernard Aubertin: Livres brûlés, Galerie Jean Brolly, Parigi, Francia
2013
Bernard Aubertin: la nature des choses, Musée d’Art Moderne et d’Art Contemporain, Nizza, Francia
2014
Bernard Aubertin, Rocca di San Giorgio, Orzinuovi
2015
Bernard Aubertin, Palazzo della Cancelleria, Roma
Le Pyromane, Poleschi Arte, Milano
Fuoco, Absolute Art, Lugano
Le Rouge et le Feu, Galleria ZetaEffe, Firenze

 

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