Vincent Bernardy is a New Resident Artist at Studios On the Park
I met him for the first time during the October Art after Dark Event. His assemblage works are so unique that after you've seen a few of them you wouldn't need a sign to know they are his. He seems to love creating things related to construction, but he doesn't limit his subjects to that. He does like bold colors. You can see that in the assemblage behind him.
You can also see that he has fun mixing his media. Vincent shares a studio with others, so what's on the shared desk isn't necessarily his. I'm guessing those toad abodes are somehow connected with studio mate Anna Meyrick who speicalizes in mosaics and ceramics.
Anna used to share a studio with Eve Provost Chartrand. My favorite source of news at the studios told me that the reason Eve left is that she thought she didn't know enough about art so she left to teach it. I had to chuckle at that, but I knew what he meant.
An Overview of the Art in Vincent's Studio Corner
When I first saw this corner, my first thought was "This guy really loves tools!" That large assemblage on the upper right side especially fascinated me. I asked Vincent about it. He told me he doesn't like to tell people what his works mean to him, since he wants each person to come at it with their own fresh perspective. If someone tells you what a piece of art is supposed to represent or mean, it limits what you might see for yourself. He did finally share his perspective with me, but I won't tell you what he said. It would be really interesting if you look at it and share what it means to you in the comments below. See the full frontal view of this piece, as well as Vincent's other art, on his webpage
The Tools
It's obvious that Vincent likes to use tools in his work -- not just to create it. As I looked at these, I thought what great gifts they might be to your favorite carpenter or handyman. What may not be obvious is that those screwdrivers actually are real and removable. One could actually use them and put them back. What a functional work of art -- especially for the person who can never find the right screwdriver when he or she needs it. Not only that, as you can see, you can also use it to hang smaller pictures. Only your imagination limits the uses.
The assemblage below also has another use. Technically, it's a coat rack. Look carefully and you'll see the hooks. The shadows will give you a hint as to where to look. Notice how carefully the screwdrivers are arranged to show off the various colors and sizes.
Music
Vincent Bernardi takes his music to many local venues. You can sample it on his YouTube channel. The song I liked best was "Rodeo Clown." He teamed up with Jade Jackson for this one. I met her for the first time when she was performing at Sculpterra one day in 2010. Here's a link to the video I made while looking around the tasting room while she was performing. It includes a brief interview with her at the end.
You can connect with Vincent on Instagram or on his website.
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