Gianni Bertini

Biographical data

Born in Pisa, Italy, in 1922. He lives and works in Paris and Nansola, Italy. Gianni Bertini starts painting as an autodidact and, at the same time, studies mathematics. He belongs to the Movement of the Art Concret (M.A.C., 1950) and, later, he takes part in the arte nucleare movement (1951). In 1951 he settles in Paris and joins the Informel group under the leadership of the art critic Michel Tapié. His first individual exhibition takes place in Paris in 1952. In 1964 he participates in the exhibition Mythologies Quotidiennes in the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris and from then on he exhibits on a regular basis with the artists belonging to the Figuration Narrative group. In 1965 he signs the first Mec-Art manifesto.Death 8th July 2010

Brief Chronology

Up until 1947 Gianni Bertini paints abstract art. Since 1948, his work evolves towards a more figurative form of art and he starts working with signposts from public areas on which he adds letters and numbers using stencils (I Gridi series). After this he engages in a “spatial”, informal, and “tachist” expression (Ascensione Cosmica, 1951; L’Exode de Sémélé, 1958). In 1962 he uses official emblems (flags, passports, fines, etc., in the collection Le Pays réel) and experiments with Pop art, transferring photographic images unto canvas (La chevauchée de Léda, 1964). Soon, these transferred photographs are set on canvas treated with photosensitive emulsion (Composition, 1971) and thus, Gianni Bertini becomes one of the leading artists in of the Mec-Art movement. At the end of the 80’s, he does a synthesis of his different styles with a series of oil paintings. Since 2000 he has been using acrylic paint and his computer (En attendant Achille, 2003). At the same time, he illustrates many books and poetry booklets and publishes his diary, Le Diurnal (1990).

P.L.T.

Bertini

Ruines de Thèbes, 2004-2005, Mec-art,

190 x 120 cm / 74,8 x 47,2 in.