Roberto Bernardi

Roberto Bernardi (born May 18, 1974 in Todi , Italy ) is an Italian painter of photorealism.

Life

Bernardi began painting as a child, and his first oil paintings were created . In his early studies he devoted himself to detailed pictorial representations of landscapes and portraits, which would later have a great influence on his artistic development. After graduating from high school , he moved to Rome in 1993 , where he worked as a restorer in the church of San Francesco a Ripa . As a painter, Bernardi devoted himself primarily to landscape and portrait painting during this period and, in the late 1990s, increasingly focused on hyper-realistic representations. Bernardi did a remarkable job of applying traditional oil painting to a contemporary genre. Today Roberto Bernardi lives and works in Todi. Since 2006, Bernardi has also been working on joint projects with his partner, Raphaella Spence. It is featured at the Bernarducci Meisel Gallery in New York .

Works

Starting with traditional, classic landscape paintings, portraits and still lifes, Bernardi only turned to photorealism in the late 1990s. At that time he started to compose and photograph realistic elements and to transfer the image of them in oil onto canvas. For the transfer he used the traditional techniques of oil painting and created a realistic picture. Instead of projecting the entire composition onto the canvas as a photograph and then repainting it, the personal translation of the subjects and the painting technique that he used followed a classic line as we know it from painting in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Today Bernardi is known for his photorealistic still lifes . The classic composition of the object arrangements in combination with the strong emphasis on light and color contrasts make his paintings unique. The light in his pictures seems to radiate from the individual inherent objects themselves.

The painterly capturing of everyday subjects such as a chewing gum machine, refrigerator equipment, a full dishwasher, thematically differentiate him from the contemporary photo-realists and remind us of images of photo-realistic forerunners such as Charles Bell , David Parrish or Linda Bacon .

Solo exhibitions

Candy Paintings, Bernarducci.Meisel.Gallery, New York (USA), 2011
Beijing, Bernarducci.Meisel.Gallery, New York (USA), 2009
Glass FX, Art of Glass 2, The Hermitage Museum and Gardens, Norfolk, VA (USA), 2009
Dirty Plates, Bernarducci.Meisel.Gallery, New York (USA), 2007
Giardini di Cristallo, Bernarducci.Meisel.Gallery, New York (USA), 2005
Spazi Infiniti, Bernarducci.Meisel.Gallery, New York (USA), 2004
Towards a New Realism, Albemarle Gallery, London (England), 2004
Robert Kidd Gallery, Detroit, MI (USA), 2002
L'espressione dei sogni, Galerie De Castiglione, Paris (France), 2000
Palazzo delle, Perugia (Italy), 1996
Umbria Jazz, Perugia (Italy), 1995
Todi Festival, Todi (Italy), 1994

Group exhibitions

Stand Still, Bernarducci.Meisel.Gallery, New York (USA), 2012
Eileen S. Kaminsky Family Foundation at MANA Art Center, Jersey City (USA), 2011
Real: Realism and Diverse Media, Imago Galleries, Palm Desert, CA (USA), 2011
Sweet tooth, Scott Richards Contemporary Art, San Francisco (USA), 2010
Real (ists), Selby Gallery - Ringling Collage of Art and Design, Sarasota (USA), 2010
Small Paintings from Around the World, Bernarducci, Meisel, Gallery, New York (USA), 2009
Arte contemporanea per i rifugiati, UNHCR, Sotheby's, Milan (Italy), 2008
SPF 20 - Shades of Summer, Bernarducci.Meisel.Gallery, New York (USA), 2008
Iperrealisti, Louis K. Meisel Gallery, New York (USA), 2008
Arte Contemporanea per I Rifugiati, Musei Capitolini, Rome (Italy), 2007
Culinary Arts, Bernarducci.Meisel.Gallery, New York (USA), 2007
Structure, Bernarducci, Meisel, Gallery, New York (USA), 2007
Iperrealisti, Bernarducci.Meisel.Gallery, New York (USA), 2007
Summer Suite, Bernarducci.Meisel.Gallery, New York (USA), 2006
Three Person Show, Albemarle Gallery, London (England), 2006
Contemporary Realism 2006, MA Doran Gallery, Tusla, OK (USA), 2006
Winter Reflections, Bernarducci.Meisel.Gallery, New York (USA), 2006
Re-presenting Realism VII, Arnot Art Museum, Elmira, NY (USA), 2005
New Photorealists, Elaine Baker Gallery, Boca Raton, FL (USA), 2005
What is Realism ?, Albemarle Gallery, London (England), curated by Edward Lucie-Smith, 2005
Cars and Ketchup: Photorealist Images of the American Landscape, Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York (USA), 2005
Personal Places, Bernarducci.Meisel.Gallery, New York (USA), 2005
Winter in Blue, Bernarducci.Meisel.Gallery, New York (USA), 2005
New American Realism, Tony Brunelli Fine Art, Binghamton, NY (USA), 2004
The Big Picture, Bernarducci.Meisel.Gallery, New York (USA), 2004
Seeing is Believing: American Tromp L'Ouil, New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain (USA), 2004
Vertical Arrangements, Bernarducci.Meisel.Gallery, New York (USA), 2004
New Photorealists, Louis K. Meisel Gallery, New York (USA), 2004
St. Pauls Gallery, Birmingham (England), 2004
Albemarle Gallery, London (England), 2004
Painting Glass Bernarducci Meisel Gallery, New York (USA), 2003
Albemarle Gallery, London (England), 2002
Paisley Tyler & Co., London (England), 2002
Bernarducci Meisel Gallery, New York (USA), 2002
Robert Kidd Gallery, Detroit, MI (USA), 2002
Albemarle Gallery, London (England), 2001
Robert Kidd Gallery, Detroit, MI (USA), 2001
Albemarle Gallery, London (England), 2001
MFF Gallery, Nice (France), 1999
Galerie Rocha, Barbizon, (France), 1999
Alexander of Florence Gallery, San Francisco (USA), 1999
Galleria Ortarte, Novara (Italy), 1999
Galleria Questarte, Villa Farsetti, Venice (Italy), 1999
Galerie Rocha, Barbizon (France), 1998
Galleria Fidesarte 16 Asta, Venice (Italy), 1998
Galleria Ortarte, Novara (Italy), 1998
Galleria Fidesarte 17 Asta, Venice (Italy), 1998
Galeria Got, Paris (France), 1998
Alexander of Florence Gallery, San Francisco (USA), 1998
Galleria Artesegno, Mostra Mercato d'Arte Contemporanea, (Italy), 1998
"Arte Padova 1998", Padova (Italy), 1998
Palazzo Pietromarchi, Perugia (Italy), 1995
Mostra Mercato d'Arte Antica e Moderna, Terni (Italy), 1995

literature

Louis K. Meisel: Photorealism . Abradale / Abrams, New York / NY 1989, ISBN 978-0-8109-8092-1
Louis K. Meisel and Linda Chase: Photorealism at the Millennium . Harry N. Abrams, New York / NY 2002, ISBN 978-0-8109-3483-2
Cars and Ketchup: Photorealist Images of the American Landscape, Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art Edizioni 2005, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY (USA)
Il presente, il passato e l'eterno By John Russel Taylor, Albemarle Gallery Edizioni 2002 p.7-12, London (England)
GlassFX, Bernardi at the Hermitage a cura di Melanie Mathewes, Hermitage Editions 2009 p.3, Norfork (USA)
Slight of Eye by Matthew Erikson, New Britain Museum Edizioni 2004 (USA)
Realist, Real Illusions by Kevin Dean, Ringling College of Art and Design Editions 2010 p.4, Sarasota (USA)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME	Bernardi, Roberto
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Italian painter of photorealism
DATE OF BIRTH	May 18, 1974
PLACE OF BIRTH	Todi , Italy