Ode Bertrand
b. 1930, France
The work of Ode Bertrand is equal parts plastic and personal. A proponent of concrete art and geometric abstraction, an essential artistic movement and a philosophical and metaphysical quest, Ode Bertrand (1930) initially pursued a career as a classical dancer. She discovered painting through contact with her aunt, Aurélie Nemours, for whom she would later serve as an assistant and disciple. She took her first steps by her side and chose to pursue art, which she threw herself into wholeheartedly. ‘You put your whole body into the painting, into the gesture, she explains.
She developed a personal, consistent and seamless style through this valuable collaboration, which she combines with a reflection on the purpose of art. Her leitmotif: the line that she articulates and modulates ad infinitum on paper or canvas, using superimposed grids that reveal the power of combinatorics. Whether supported or imperceptible, the line, which is usually thin, takes on rhythm through these creations and meticulous weaving. This patient, painstaking work is built around a delicate balance between order and disorder. It is perfectly orchestrated and creates incredible spaces. These labyrinths are an example of this, with their detours showcasing her love of mystery. Her research, which is both perceptible and intangible, is based on a certain degree of ambiguity between the tangible and the unspoken, the static and motion.
The pleasure of the gesture is implicit here. This is because we can easily make out the movement of her hand, her various back-and-forth movements, the artist’s eye and her desire to achieve perfection, first in her miniatures (which are her preferred medium), in which she focuses on the power and mystery of the line with a precision that recalls illumination works, and then in larger-format works. Her delicate works call out to be admired closely and to reach the soul of the viewer, because the artist firmly believes that art and the search for beauty lie dormant in each and every one of us.
Ode Bertrand never overlooks light, so she prefers for her works to not be overly dense. This way, clarity always has its place. She loves black and white, which are more docile and immediate than colour, since this calls for a certain amount of confrontation, due to the complex tensions between pigments. Her forays into colour demonstrate subtle alchemist hues, so that the shades in a single colour seem to reveal light effects rather than a brushstroke. She always composes in batches, as she prefers to name her series. This is because, for her, each piece is a new character, where lines, light and rhythm come together in different ways.
It is only in her most recent works – the origami – that Ode Bertrand shows an openness towards the random. Black ribbons are cast to the ground and given over to randomness and weightlessness, inspiring the upstrokes and downstrokes of a new kind of writing in which the line expands and thickens.
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The work of Ode Bertrand is equal parts plastic and personal. A proponent of concrete art and geometric abstraction, an essential artistic movement and a philosophical and metaphysical quest, Ode Bertrand (1930) initially pursued a career as a classical dancer. She discovered painting through contact with her aunt, Aurélie Nemours, for whom she would later serve as an assistant and disciple. She took her first steps by her side and chose to pursue art, which she threw herself into wholeheartedly. ‘You put your whole body into the painting, into the gesture, she explains.
She developed a personal, consistent and seamless style through this valuable collaboration, which she combines with a reflection on the purpose of art. Her leitmotif: the line that she articulates and modulates ad infinitum on paper or canvas, using superimposed grids that reveal the power of combinatorics. Whether supported or imperceptible, the line, which is usually thin, takes on rhythm through these creations and meticulous weaving. This patient, painstaking work is built around a delicate balance between order and disorder. It is perfectly orchestrated and creates incredible spaces. These labyrinths are an example of this, with their detours showcasing her love of mystery. Her research, which is both perceptible and intangible, is based on a certain degree of ambiguity between the tangible and the unspoken, the static and motion.
The pleasure of the gesture is implicit here. This is because we can easily make out the movement of her hand, her various back-and-forth movements, the artist’s eye and her desire to achieve perfection, first in her miniatures (which are her preferred medium), in which she focuses on the power and mystery of the line with a precision that recalls illumination works, and then in larger-format works. Her delicate works call out to be admired closely and to reach the soul of the viewer, because the artist firmly believes that art and the search for beauty lie dormant in each and every one of us.
Ode Bertrand never overlooks light, so she prefers for her works to not be overly dense. This way, clarity always has its place. She loves black and white, which are more docile and immediate than colour, since this calls for a certain amount of confrontation, due to the complex tensions between pigments. Her forays into colour demonstrate subtle alchemist hues, so that the shades in a single colour seem to reveal light effects rather than a brushstroke. She always composes in batches, as she prefers to name her series. This is because, for her, each piece is a new character, where lines, light and rhythm come together in different ways.
It is only in her most recent works – the origami – that Ode Bertrand shows an openness towards the random. Black ribbons are cast to the ground and given over to randomness and weightlessness, inspiring the upstrokes and downstrokes of a new kind of writing in which the line expands and thickens.
Read more...
She developed a personal, consistent and seamless style through this valuable collaboration, which she combines with a reflection on the purpose of art. Her leitmotif: the line that she articulates and modulates ad infinitum on paper or canvas, using superimposed grids that reveal the power of combinatorics. Whether supported or imperceptible, the line, which is usually thin, takes on rhythm through these creations and meticulous weaving. This patient, painstaking work is built around a delicate balance between order and disorder. It is perfectly orchestrated and creates incredible spaces. These labyrinths are an example of this, with their detours showcasing her love of mystery. Her research, which is both perceptible and intangible, is based on a certain degree of ambiguity between the tangible and the unspoken, the static and motion.
The pleasure of the gesture is implicit here. This is because we can easily make out the movement of her hand, her various back-and-forth movements, the artist’s eye and her desire to achieve perfection, first in her miniatures (which are her preferred medium), in which she focuses on the power and mystery of the line with a precision that recalls illumination works, and then in larger-format works. Her delicate works call out to be admired closely and to reach the soul of the viewer, because the artist firmly believes that art and the search for beauty lie dormant in each and every one of us.
Ode Bertrand never overlooks light, so she prefers for her works to not be overly dense. This way, clarity always has its place. She loves black and white, which are more docile and immediate than colour, since this calls for a certain amount of confrontation, due to the complex tensions between pigments. Her forays into colour demonstrate subtle alchemist hues, so that the shades in a single colour seem to reveal light effects rather than a brushstroke. She always composes in batches, as she prefers to name her series. This is because, for her, each piece is a new character, where lines, light and rhythm come together in different ways.
It is only in her most recent works – the origami – that Ode Bertrand shows an openness towards the random. Black ribbons are cast to the ground and given over to randomness and weightlessness, inspiring the upstrokes and downstrokes of a new kind of writing in which the line expands and thickens.
