Martin Bruneau - Regard d'artiste

For many years now, Martin Bruneau has been working from paintings of the great masters of the classical period such as Rembrandt, Velasquez, Courbet, Pousins or even Philippe de Champaigne. Martin Bruneau was invited by the organization “Chemins du Patrimoine en Finistere” to design a project that would recall the first period of Kerjean castle (16th - 18th century). In this respect, he created a project built on the concept of ‘presences’ with painted portraits and ceramics based on paintings from the 17th century. Just as visitors may enjoy a new permanent presentation of the castle, Martin Bruneau’s works bring a new perspective under which to apprehend the castle.

“There are a thousand different ways of producing images. Everybody produces them nowadays, we all are photographers when we take shots of relatives or holidays.
Martin Bruneau also produces images. But being a painter, the images he creates are quite unusual to say the least. He paints images that are recognizable (a hare, a stag, an infanta or a skull) but covers them up with abstract signs such as grids, horizontal stripes, spots and dots all of which are marks immersing the painting in its materiality.

Neither abstract nor figurative, the artist uses figurative motifs as abstract signs, the layout of which on the canvas obeys the formal rules of composition. By working on an existing material –images from classical paintings - Martin Bruneau actually investigates our memory, the genuine place of the images.”  

Laure Blanc-Benon

Texts from Martin Bruneau, Laure Blanc Benon, Philippe Ifri.