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Romain Bernini, born in 1979, Paris, France. He lives and works in Paris. Romain Bernini is a magician on the French contemporary art scene. Each canvas remains a mystery to which he alone holds the key. His color, often oscillating between blue and pink, bathes his canvases and nourishes the more detailed figures that appear in the foreground. The scenes we discover are disconcerting. Halfway between incantations and realistic imagery, Bernini's canvases allow us to experience " the elsewhere ". They play on a superb contradiction, being neither entirely dreamlike nor entirely real. Tropical plants meet prehistoric figurines, while Indian ornaments and faces take their place in dense forest landscapes. Nothing is ever static; nothing is ever certain. If this chronological and thematic mix disturbs us, it's precisely because Romain Bernini paints in tune with the alchemy of each color. The thick, colorful mist that becomes the backdrop for each event is nothing other than paint at its most gaseous or liquid. His work can be found in French national collections such as CNAP (Paris, France), Frac Île-de-France (Paris, France), Frac Pays de la Loire (Carquefou, France) and MAC VAL (Paris, France).
Q. Please briefly talk about your living environment？I live and work in Paris, and my studio is located at La Ruche, a historic place where artists such as Soutine, Brancusi, Modigliani, and Chagall once worked.Q. What was your first encounter with art?
My very first encounter with art was through my maternal grandmother, who was an artist. Like many, I remember the smell of turpentine in her studio. My first encounter with masterpieces was at the Louvre Museum, especially Egyptian art, also Rembrandt's “Slaughtered Ox” was my first shock.
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©HdM GALLERYThe Diplomat II, oil on canvas, 100x80cm, 2020Q. Please introduce your educational background and its impact on your career. When did you decide to become an artist, and why?I studied fine arts at the Sorbonne University in Paris, while simultaneously pursuing a curriculum in art philosophy. This allowed me to develop a theoretical understanding of Art, as at that time, the practice of painting was not considered and was almost entirely absent from the teachings. In this regard, I consider myself self-taught. I have always wanted to do this, ever since I was a child; there was never “a moment” when the decision was made.
Q. What are your sources of inspiration for your creations? Travel / music / literature / philosophy...I observe many things, and I have a particular affection for non-Western cultures and their artistic and musical creations. Shamanism, ethology, rituals, and magical societies have been strong sources of inspiration over the past decade.![]()
©HdM GALLERYNight Bird, oil on canvas, 81x65cm, 2023Q. What movements or which artist have deeply inspired you? How did they influence your work?There are a great number of artists I admire and whose work I have studied extensively. For example, Paul Gauguin, Émile Bernard, and Paul Sérusier for their work on color; more contemporary artists like Per Kirkeby, Peter Doig, and Michael Armitage. The freedom of Van Gogh and Philip Guston has always fascinated me, and Luca Signorelli was also one of my greatest revelations (his frescoes in the San Brizio Chapel in Orvieto). Luc Tuymans and Gerhard Richter have interested me a lot in terms of their relationship to documents, even though my painting is quite distant from their approaches.
Q. Have you ever reached a plateau in your production? And how do you overcome the obstacles? Have you ever experienced any major change in your artistic production?
Each day is a new beginning, an adventure; all the difficulties are part of the work and allow me to progress. Ease and simplicity rarely produce powerful works.
I believe it’s more of a gradual evolution rather than radical changes. In my view, painting is a journey filled with encounters, moments of grace, successes, and doubts. Naturally, the technique evolves, as do influences and desires, but for me, this happens slowly, without any drastic shifts.
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©HdM GALLERYHim VIII, oil on canvas, 250x180cm, 2022Q. Please talk about your art-making routine. How many hours do you usually spend in the studio? Do you have any little habits in the studio?
When I’m not teaching at the School of Fine Arts in Paris, I work in my studio every day for about eight hours. I enjoy working alone and with music, focusing on one painting at a time.
Q. Please introduce your studio space. How long have you been working in this studio? Why did you initially choose this space? Are there any unique items in your studio? I work in a historic place called La Ruche, which was built in 1903 in Paris to house artists who were refugees or in need at the time. Within these walls, artists such as Chaim Soutine, Marc Chagall, Fernand Léger, Paul Rebeyrolle, and Amedeo Modigliani worked, and Picasso often visited. For over 120 years, this place has remained an artistic community. There is a garden where artists can gather and have discussions.Yes, I own works by my friends, African masks, and all sorts of objects that inspire me.![]()
©HdM GALLERYUntitled, oil on wood, 22x27cm, 2023Q. What is your main medium of creation? Why did you choose it?
I primarily work with oil paint, as it allows me to extend the process over time, preventing it from drying too quickly and enabling me to revisit the painting multiple times. With my approach as a colorist, oil paint lets me work with glazes, bringing out more vibrancy in the colors compared to other techniques.
Q. Are there any metaphors in your work? Where do they come from? What do you want to express?
In my opinion, creolization and the struggle for its flourishing are the central issues of today's and tomorrow's art. It represents a figure of promise, diplomacy with others, the movement of people, ideas, and images, without constraints and as necessary.While my painting indeed stages ineffective encounters between worlds, cultures, and individuals opposed by history, it is in no way cynical or even ironic. It embodies the idea of creolité, which is expressed here through the gathering in a pictorial space of cultures or elements that do not usually meet or meet only rarely.![]()
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Untitled, oil on wood, 27x35cm, 2023Q.How do you think and construct colors in your works? What are your preferred colors, and why? I find it impossible to name a favorite color; to me, colors work in harmony, much like in music. A single note cannot stand alone; it must resonate in relation to others.Q. What is your current focus in your creations, and why? Currently, I am primarily working on animal and/or plant figures; the idea is to shift the focus and consider these beings with as much attention as we do towards humans. This perspective is both hopeful and concerning about what comes after the Anthropocene.![]()
©HdM GALLERYGrans Bwa XXIV, oil on canvas, 130x130cm, 2020Q. Is there any specific vibe that you would like to create in your works? What is it, and why? If my painting is quite figurative, it is not realistic. I use bold colors, sometimes even garish, as people say. In this sense, I am seeking a strange vibration, an intense aura, a harshness in the representation.Q. How do you start and end your creations? And how do you determine whether a piece of work is finished?
A painting begins with intuitions; it is never entirely programmatic, though there is always a central theme. I often let myself be guided by improvisation. A work is complete when it feels autonomous to me; it resonates, possessing a strangeness, a mystery sufficient to resist a hasty interpretation.
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©HdM GALLERYThem II, oil on canvas, 200x250cm, 2021Q. What is the everlasting theme of your creations? What have you been pursuing in your artistic creations? I like to say that I practice a painting of “suspension,” without overly dominant narrative elements. I understand suspension as a temporary disengagement, a moment of sovereign calm. A figure in suspension is neither entirely in the world nor out of it; it is at a tipping point. It is the moment of all possibilities, where hope and drama intertwine, the future is not yet decided, and grace and the mundane coexist. It is the moment of a potential reversal of power dynamics. To me, it is both a poetic and political moment. Everything is still possible, everything is at play right here, right now.
Q. Do you have any upcoming exhibitions or project plans?
I am working on several upcoming group exhibitions, with major solo projects planned for the spring of 2025 at the Abbaye Royale de Fontevraud and the Musée de Fontevraud. Additionally, I have another solo show scheduled at PARCC, a brand new art center in the Landes. The Pompidou Center has just acquired one of my recent large paintings. I am currently teaching painting at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris.
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©HdM GALLERYUntitled 3, oil on canvas, 27x19cm, 2015-2020Q. How do you expect you and your works to be evaluated and remembered by people many years from now?
I hope that my painting will be seen and shared by many, and that it will always be a unique, beautiful, and strange vision of the times I have experienced.
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