Reviews 2013-2017

Press reviews 2013-2017 in French, English, Italian, Chinese & German

从法国到上海，首展聚焦｜这就是你，一个艺术家 —  Jean-Pierre SERGENT By Xiwen Yang | Taiwan
原创 2016–11–15 杨习文 50Plus与别处研究室

Article written by the 50Plus Gallery director Xiwen Yang, 15 November 2016, Taiwan

“Jean-Pierre Sergent” L’Essentiel, Besançon, France

Alain Pralon, September 2016 / Read the pdf

Opere d’arte in plexiglass: intervista a Jean-Pierre Sergent (English / Italian)

Simona Manlio, Artspecialday, August 10th, 2016 / Read the pdf

Jean-Pierre Sergent è un artista francese di 58 anni originario di Morteau. Dopo aver studiato architettura a Strasburgo e pittura presso L’école des Beaux-Arts di Besançon, cittadina dove tutt’oggi risiede il suo studio, ha vissuto a lungo nel continente americano, sia in Canada che negli Stati Uniti, in particolare a New York, dove vive e lavora alcuni periodi dell’anno.
Nel corso degli anni ha sviluppato interesse e curiosità per il plexiglass e per la tecnica della serigrafia: il suo continuo studio e l’incessante ricerca lo hanno portato a strutturare diverse serie di opere. In generale la sua arte è colorata e in un certo senso geometrica, e dietro ad essa si celano ispirazioni, idee, simboli e differenti linguaggi misteriosi ed affascinanti.
Artspecialday ha intervistato Jean-Pierre Sergent per saperne di più sulla sua arte.

Dove trovi l’ispirazione per i tuoi dipinti?

La mia ispirazione attinge profondamente dal patrimonio umano e culturale e dalla storia dell’arte nel corso del tempo, così come diversi luoghi geografici e culture. Le immagini dei rituali del passato, mi
ricordano come era il vivere insieme, in un contesto sociale e culturale più forte rispetto ai giorni nostri. Le immagini riprodotte nei miei quadri provengono per lo più da gesti di offerte e cerimonie sacre
praticate molto, molto tempo fa, molto prima che le società fossero guidate dal monoteismo, progettate dagli “artisti” preindustriali, “arcaici” animisti o politeisti! Personalmente, ho trovato la loro “arte” molto
più ricca, meravigliosa, magica e viva rispetto all’arte tradizionale europea, dal Rinascimento all’arte contemporanea. Ho usato anche un sacco di immagini sessuali (per lo più contemporanee), ispirate ai
manga erotici giapponesi, al fine di aggiungere contenuti a sfondo sessuale nelle opere d’arte, tali da sovraccaricare il contenuto figurativo con l’energia rigenerante della Vita.
Come conseguenza del lungo periodo di tempo della mia vita trascorso a New York, ho avuto l’opportunità di incontrare tanti amici da tutto il mondo. È a causa di tutti questi incontri che il contenuto e il messaggio della mia opera ora è davvero internazionale e universale.

Sono anche in gran parte ispirato da molteplici motivi geometrici (indù yantras, tatuaggi tribali, incisioni rupestri preistoriche, disegni delle ceramiche Maya), scelti per il loro potente significato spirituale e la
loro interconnessione cosmico – umana. Dopo aver vissuto alcune esperienze di trance sciamanica a New York, il loro potente contenuto
spirituale e la luce particolare ha spinto la mia attenzione a tutte le esperienze di stati estatici: l’orgasmo sessuale ed il suo culmine, stati di trance mistiche e spirituali, esperienze di nascita della vita o della morte, metamorfosi in spiriti animali, viaggi cosmici, ecc…

In sintesi, tutto ciò che mi ispira è la vita in generale, in tutte le sue manifestazioni culturali rappresentate attraverso i disegni, manufatti e opere d’arte; così come tutte le manifestazioni della natura (animali, fiori,
alberi) che ci collegano in qualità di esseri umani, al fine di aumentare lo sviluppo spirituale e la consapevolezza della coscienza.

Where do you find the source of inspiration for your paintings?

My inspiration draws deeply from human cultural heritage and art history throughout time as well as different geographical locations and cultures. Past images of rituals remind me of what it was like to live together in a stronger social cultural network compared to nowadays. The visuals reproduced in my paintings came mostly from offering gestures and sacred ceremonies practiced a very very long time ago, long before monotheistic driven societies, designed from pre-industriall, “archaic”, animist or polytheist “artists”! Personally, I found their “art” much more rich, marvellous, magical and alive than traditional European Art, from Renaissance to Contemporary art. I also used a lot of sexual images
(mostly contemporary), inspired by Japanese erotic manga drawings, in order to add sexual content into the work to overload the figurative content with Life regenerating energy.

As a result of living in New York for a long time, I had the opportunity to meet many friends from all around the world. It is because of all of these encounters that the content and message of my artwork now truly is international and universal.

I am also largely inspired by multiple geometric patterns (Hindus yantras, tribal tattoos, prehistoric rock carvings, Mayan pottery designs), chosen for their powerful spiritual meanings and their cosmic -human interconnections.

After having practiced some shamanic trances in New York, their powerful spiritual content and particular light has driven my attention to all the ecstatic states of experiences: sexual orgasm and climax, mystical spiritual trances, Life birth or death experiences, metamorphosis into animal spirits, cosmic voyages, etc…

In summary, all that is inspiring me is life in general, with all its cultural manifestations represented throughout drawings, artefacts and art, as well as, all manifestations of nature (animals, flowers, trees) linking us, human being, together in order to attend some kind of spiritual development and conscientious awareness.
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Qual è il tuo concetto di forma e colori?

Le immagini stampate sono perfettamente sagomate e progettate attraverso l’uso di programmi per computer, ma le decisioni finali da effettuare sono i colori che sono decisi durante il processo di stampa.
Il tono deve sempre essere giusto perché non riesco a lavorare a ritroso; una volta che è stampato non posso cambiarlo. La mescolanza e la scelta dei colori è forse il momento più importante del mio processo di lavoro, in quanto crea energie specifiche e queste energie hanno bisogno di essere vive, vibranti e non morte o statiche, in modo da avere un impatto sugli spettatori! Le forme incisive sono importanti come i miei disegni sono audaci, a volte anche violenti, così come spesso hanno una carica erotica e sensuale. Potrebbe essere una vera e propria sorpresa o una sfida per le persone che traggono esperienza dai murales su larga scala o dipinti, come i loro corpi e le riflessioni del corpo sono parte delle opere d’arte, come nello specchio della vita: i mondi di tutte le illusioni Indù e Maya.

What is your concept of shape and colours?

The printed images are perfectly shaped and designed through use of computer programs, but the final decisions to be made are the colours which are decided during the printing process. The tone always has to be right as I can’t work backwards; once it’s printed I can’t change it. Mixing and choosing the colours is maybe the most important moment of my working process, as it creates specific energies and
those energies need to be alive, vibrant and not dead or statics, in order to have an impact on the viewers! The punchy shapes are also important as my designs are bold, sometimes even violent as well as often erotically and sensually charged. It could be a real surprise or challenge for people experiencing the large scale murals or paintings, as their bodies and body’s reflections are part of the artwork as into the mirror of life: the “Maya” or Hindus worlds of all illusion.
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Perché il plexiglass? Utilizzi (o pensi di utilizzare) altri materiali?

Ho lavorato principalmente con il materiale in plexiglas per più di venti anni. È una superficie trasparente frontale luminosa, mentre allo stesso tempo funge da supporto e protezione per la pittura, attivando le densità del grassetto dei colori acrilici serigrafati e dipinti sul retro dei pannelli. I moduli dipinti hanno dimensioni di 1,05 x 1,05 m, sono montati affiancati per creare grandi installazioni murali e l’opera d’arte in plexiglas viene regolata come le piastrelle di ceramica. Ho completato due grandi serie su plexiglas: La serie “Diario Maya” (1999-2010), con un totale di 170 dipinti, in gran parte ispirata dai miei numerosi viaggi in Messico e Guatemala e il nuovo “Suite Entropiche” che conta oggi 155 dipinti!
Faccio un sacco di lavoro su supporto cartaceo e in grandi, medie ma per lo più piccole stampe di dimensioni 25 x 25 cm, come l’ultima serie completata nel 2014: “Le désir, la matrice, la Grotte et le loto blanc” il mio lavoro in corso questa estate è la continuazione di “Bones & Flowers: The Methamorfosis of Life”, una nuova serie (76 x 56 cm) iniziata nel 2015.

Why plexiglass? Do you use (or planning to use) other materials?

I have been working mainly with Plexiglas material for more than twenty years now. It is a bright transparent front surface, while at the same time serving as the support and the protection for the painting, activating the bold densities of the silkscreened and painted acrylic colours on the reverse side of the panels. The painted modules sized 1.05 x 1.05 m, are mounted side by side in order to create large mural installations and the Plexiglas artwork is adjusted as ceramic tiles. I completed two large
series on Plexiglas: The “Mayan Diary” series (1999- 2010) with a total of 170 paintings, largely inspired by my numerous trips to Mexico and Guatemala and the new “Entropic Suites” counting today at 155
paintings!

I do a lot of work on paper support as well in large, medium but mostly small sized prints (25 x 25 cm), like the last series completed in 2014: “Le désir, la matrice, la grotte et le lotus blanc.” My work in progress this summer is the continuation of “Bones & Flowers: The Metamorphosis of Life”, a new series (76 x 56 cm) begun in 2015.
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Chi sono i tuoi artisti preferiti e perché?

“Suites Entropiques”, 2011-2015 – serigrafia pittura e acrilico su plexiglas, 105 x 105 cm Sono per lo più impressionato da artisti che hanno rotto le loro regole contemporanee (morale e estetica), al fine di reintegrare le forze della energia primaria di vita. Per citarne alcuni, mi viene in mente Picasso con la sua Demoiselles d’Avignon, culturalmente e sessualmente selvaggio. Frida Kahlo per la sua forza, la resilienza e i forti legami culturali messicani. Naturalmente Giotto e Beato Angelico per la purezza dei colori e lo stato di spiritualità e di grazia che fluisce attraverso le loro scene religiose. Amo i paesaggi e scenari di Pieter Bruegel che raffigurano gente comune che affronta la sua vita quotidiana, mentre allo stesso tempo ha un senso di eternità. Inoltre Hieronymus Bosch, Il Giardino delle Delizie, con il suo contenuto di sesso sfrenato e morte. Mi piacciono anche tutti i manoscritti del Medioevo ed i codici precolombiani, anche per i colori e le immagini mitologiche e rituali. Sono incuriosito dagli ultimi collage fatti di ritagli di carta di Matisse, poichè sono semplici, spirituali, pacifici e gioiosi. Questo lavoro ha largamente influenzato la mia scelta di riprodurre immagini attraverso la serigrafia in stampa in modo da avere perfette campiture di colore piatte. Mi piacciono anche le grandi opere di Jackson Pollock, le sue colature sono piene di energia sciamanica e cosmica. Per non dimenticare Mark Rothko (enormi opere spirituali e grandi colori), Barnet Newman (forti dichiarazioni circa la verticalità e la connessione tra umano e Dio), Jasper Johns (opere d’arte grandi e quasi magiche, con i suoi “Target Objects”), etc, etc…
Ma ciò che mi ha più influenzato e mi ha dato più ispirazione sono stati i tanti e numerosi artisti anonimi che hanno dipinto in tutto il Mondo: le tombe in Egitto (in particolare la Nefertari uno), le ceramiche e i murales di Messico e Guatemala, così come tutti gli artisti indù, tibetani e giapponesi che hanno dipinto tutti i loro soggetti tradizionali e, naturalmente, le genti preistoriche che hanno dipinto le Grotte di
Lascaux e Chauvet nel sud della Francia e di tutti gli sciamani australiani aborigeni che hanno scolpito le loro mappe dei sogni sulle pietre del deserto, pareti di roccia o cortecce di legno.

Which artists do you like best and why?

I am mostly impressed by artists who have broken their contemporary rules (morals and aesthetics) in order to reintegrate the primary life energy forces. To name a few, I can think of Picasso with his Demoiselles d’Avignon, culturally and sexually wild. Frida Kahlo for her strength, resilience and strong Mexican cultural connections. Of course Giotto and Fra Angelico for the purity of the colours and the state of spirituality and grace which flows through their religious scenes. I love Pieter Bruegel’s landscapes and sceneries which depict common people going about their daily life while at the same time having a sense of eternity. Also Hieronymus Bosch, The Garden of Earthly Delights, with it’s crazy sex and death content. I also like all the middle -age manuscripts and the pre Columbian codices, also for the colours as well as the mythological and ritual images. I am intrigued by the latest cut out paper collages of Matisse as they are simple, spiritual, peaceful and joyful. This work largely influenced my choice to reproduce images throughout silkscreen print in order to have perfect flat colour fields. I also love the large works of Jackson Pollock, his drippings are full of shamanic and cosmic energies. Not to forget Mark Rothko (huge spiritual works and great colours), Barnet Newman (strong statements about verticality and the connection between Human and God), Jasper Johns (great and almost magical art works with his Targets- objects), etc, etc… But what influences me the most and gives me the most
pleasure, are the anonymous and numerous artists who have painted around the world: the tombs in Egypt (particularly the Nefertary one), the potteries and murals of Mexico and Guatemala, as well as all the Hindus, Tibetan and Japanese artists who painted all their traditional paintings, and, of course, the prehistorical people who painted the Lascaux and Chauvet Caves in the South of France and all of the
aboriginal Australian shamans who carved their dream maps onto the desert stones, rock walls or wood barks.
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Quando esporrai in Italia?

Beh, purtroppo, per il momento non ho alcuna mostra in programma in Italia, ma io sono sempre aperto a qualsiasi opportunità o proposte che possono verificarsi presto e sarei felice di esporre la mia opera
d’arte in un paese che mi piace, con gente simpatica, ottimo cibo e con un così importante background artistico! Inoltre l’Italia non è poi così lontano, poiché attualmente vivo a Besançon, in Francia, vicino al
confine settentrionale svizzero. Quindi speriamo di poter organizzare alcuni progetti per portarvi il mio lavoro molto presto!

When will you expose in Italy?

Well unfortunately, for the moment I don’t have any planned exhibitions in Italy, but I am always open to any opportunities or proposals which may occur soon and would be delighted to exhibit my artwork in a
country that I like, with friendly people, great food, and with such an important artistic background! Plus Italy is not that far away as I am actually living in Besançon, France, close by the Northern Swiss border.
So let’s hope we can set up some plans to bring my work over there soon!
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Quali sono i tuoi progetti per il futuro?

Ho appena finito una mostra collettiva a Taiwan ed attualmente sto prendendo parte ad una bella mostra di gruppo in una fondazione svizzera (Ferme du Grand-Cachot a La Chaux-du-Milieu), così come una mostra collettiva estiva nella mia Galleria di Zurigo (Keller Galerie diretta da Heidi Sutter). Sto preparando una installazione monumentale a parete (3,15 x 6,30 m) presso L’Aspirateur, un Centro di Arte
Contemporanea di Narbonne, nel sud della Francia, per lo spettacolo L’artiste est-il a Chaman?, curato da Laurent Devèze. Farò anche una serie di 4 mostre personali itineranti in Cina curate da Xiwen Yang,
da settembre a dicembre in alcuni musei e gallerie nelle città di Shenyang, Pechino, Shanghai e Guangzhou.

Which are the projects for the future?

I just finished a group show in Taiwan and I am currently having a nice group exhibit in a Swiss Foundation (Ferme du Grand- Cachot at La Chaux- du- Milieu), as well as a summer group exhibition at
my Zurich Gallery’s (Keller Galerie directed by Heidi Sutter). I am preparing a monumental wall installation (3.15 x 6.30 m) at L’Aspirateur, a Contemporary Art Center in Narbonne, South of France, for
the show “L’artiste est- il a chaman ?”, curated by Laurent Devèze. I will also have a series of 4 traveling solo exhibitions in China curated by Xiwen Yang, from September to December in some Museums and
Galleries in the cities of Shenyang, Beijing, Shanghai & Guangzhou

 

Jean-Pierre Sergent “Anima Mundi”: mostra alla Keller Gallery di Zurigo

By Vincenzo Chetta, Biancoscuro Rivista d’Arte #14, Italy, February 2016 / Read the pdf

Jean-Pierre Sergent : Anima Mundi: mostra alla Keller Gallery di Zurigo
Le opere di Jean-Pierre Sergent in questa mostra, mettono lo spettatore in un “centro” universale e trascendentale. “Anima Mundi” è per definizione “la forza vitale nell’universo”; i dipinti dell’artista sono in qualche modo le stesse rappresentazioni di queste forze energetiche: sono i colori, la vitalità e la sessualità. La saggezza millenaria dimostra empiricamente che dovremmo regolarmente riseminare il nostro mondo interiore ed il mondo in generale, per sopravvivere e prosperare. Così i dipinti dell’artista sembrano avere questo potere “magico”, ci fa raggiungere questi viaggi cosmici, paradossalmente sia intimi che universali, sulle orme dei filosofi indù o anche direttamente in luoghi immaginari e celesti. Allo stesso modo, tutte le immagini proposte da Sergent sono estratte da una realtà tangibile: il fiore di loto, la pioggia Maya dea Ixchel, i crani degli aztechi, lo spirito di Jaguar (El Tigre), donne asiatiche legate in schiavitù ed in estasi sessuale, queste ed altre sono tutte le immagini di rituali esistenti o preesistenti o scene di contemplazione.
Queste miscele armoniose, o caotiche, grazie ai colori ed alle sovrapposizioni create dall’artista, provocano e inducono risonanze ed emozioni che ci portano in questo luogo universale nel vero senso della Anima Mundi, in un viaggio , reale o immaginario, al centro vitale dell’Anima del Mondo. La mostra è visitabile sino al 5 marzo 2016 alla prestigiosa Galerie Keller di Zurigo, sotto la cura della Gallerista Heidi Suter. 

Deux expositions estivales pour Jean-Pierre Sergent

By Thierry Savatier, in Les Mauvaises Fréquentations, July 16th 2015 / Read the pdf

The visual artist keeps on following his path in his workshop ; his work is built on the same medium (screenprinting on plexiglas and paper) and lead by a spiritual topic based on union, the juxtaposition of erotic pictures and sacred patterns inspired by Indian cosmogony or ancient civilisations of today Latin America and whose recurrence creates a particular geometry.
Principles of union or juxtaposition may be misunderstood by the Western public, highly influenced by monotheisms, where erotic and sacred things shall be dealt as separate realms. This is the reason why we have to look beyond our preconceptions and prejudices before stepping in Jean-Pierre Sergent’s world. This effort is the precondition for getting the true meaning of his work, based on a collection of fragments, each of them having its own significance whereas they create a new harmony when reunited, having then a much higher impact erasing all apparent paradox.
The artist explains:
« These drawings symbolize the primary freedom of the human being as well as its burning appeal to the desired opposite sex. Bluntly speaking, they incarnate truth, oblivion, dream, power and love. On the other side, the geometric patterns refer to the sacred erotic culture as the one praised within tribes. They symbolize formal beauty, and reveal the constituents that compose live matter or even the big void! They incarnate order, meditation, tradition and detachment…(…). Thus reunited, order and chaos create the overall, powerful and relevant picture of our life, it’s as simple as that.
« Life » should be interpreted as the way we think about desire, Nature and cosmic forces which seem to delve the spectator into each work whose true meaning is hidden under a chaotic even abstract aspect and whose various levels will progressively be revealed, thus embarking the spectator on an initiatory and hypnotic journey.

Translated by Sèverine Maisières

Interview with French Artist Jean-Pierre Sergent: Art, Sex and Subconscious

By Kayleigh Moreno for The Culture Trip, London, UK, July 2014. Read the pdf

French artist Jean–Pierre Sergent creates work that mines deeps into the human mind, questioning Western society’s relationship with nature and the Self. Enthused by the cultures of the East, Sergent uses the female figure in his work, which oscillates between cave art and pop art aesthetics. In preparation for his exhibition at MAG Art Fair in Montreux, we catch up with Sergent to discuss his practice and the spiritualism behind his work.

Jean-Pierre Sergent in front of ’Mayan Diary’, 3.15 x 6.30 m, opera scenography for La Traviata, at the Opéra-Théâtre of Besançon, France, 2007 | Photo by Yves Petit, Courtesy the artist.

Kayleigh Moreno: Artistic practice generally begins very early in life, so let’s start with your childhood to get a feel for your background. What was your childhood like growing up in France?

Jean-Pierre Sergent: I grew up being happy as a child, nothing specific to report except that I suffered from strong asthma attacks, which had probably forced me to reinvent a world where suffering was banned, a sort of a place where you get the freedom to breath, dream and live in harmony with the surroundings and with also a big expectation for beautiful things. Today I find this beauty in all the art works I am interested in. I also spent a lot of time with my grandfather, who was a really kind and smart man and who honoured nature a lot. So even today, as I went for a canoe trip in the Doubs river this morning, (which traces the border between France and Switzerland), I could still feel my grandfather’s surrounding presence, as this was the place where he lived.

I also have to say that this part of France where I live now is really beautiful, as you can find mountains, lakes and rivers here, and the landscape is gorgeous. Spending time in nature really gives me a lot of inspiration for my work. Not necessarily some images, but most likely the sensation and the feeling of natural forces and energies.

KM: You started out studying architecture; what made you decide to change your path and become a fine artist?

JPS: Yes, I studied architecture for about a year and then decided to go to art school. I was not totally happy with the architectural practice, in which I had the feeling I had to deal with too many restraints. To become an artist was more promising as I could be more inside the creative process of art and life, in that sense having more freedom to express myself.

KM: Do you think that your architectural background has played a role in your use of unconventional painting surfaces?

JPS: At first, I thought I had totally wasted my time in this short year of studies, but in the long run I realised that it gave me some skills for drawing, [and] to visualise exhibition spaces. Also, I learned a new way to pay attention to how things are built and connected together, as well as how humans interact with their architectural surroundings. Now I can see the importance of the geometrical structures of my Plexiglas painting constructions (square Plexiglas panels mounted on the wall, side by side), which is the way I display my work in monumental mural installations. They are built like a wall of tiles and therefore could be seen as an architectural plastic realisation.

Installation of the show Nature, Cultures, The World’s Origins, Farm of Flagey, Musée Courbet, France, 2012 | Courtesy the artist.

KM: Your work on sex and rituals, can you talk a bit about what you are trying to convey with these works.

JPS: In fact I had a gallery show last year in Besançon, which is my home town actually, of large works on paper and decided to entitle it SEX & RITUALS / WORKS ON PAPER. Those two themes are really the subjects that have been nourishing the content of my art since I decided to exit abstract practice.

Firstly, sex is the main common thing shared and done by all human beings on earth and most animals. It is at the same time cultural, as every culture approaches sexual practices differently; this goes from Japanese bondage, to religious constraints, to seeing sex as only a way of reproducing the species without any pleasure and a lot of guilt. It's also of course nature as the primary essence of life, the first ever energy who created us. Also the libido through desire is maybe the most imaginative, poetic and powerful force to help us (the human race) get connected.

Secondly, rituals. I noticed that a lot of iconographies coming from ancients civilisations — tribal, archaical, or prehistorical — were mostly those of rituals. All the scenes show priests, gods or goddesses regenerating the earth, the plants, the cycles of the sun and the moon, but also the rituals are reactivating births of the new generations throughout desire and love. As well as all the images from those cultures explaining how to transcend the absence of the dead, how to heal the sick, how to arouse desire, how to connect with ancestors.

View of the Sex & Rituals exhibition in Besançon, 2013, France. Courtesy the artist.

KM: Would you agree that your work is quiet pop art? Would you say you’re trying to represent this bombardment of advertising we have in our society with the fact that nowadays sex sells?

JPS: I would rather say no, not at all to this question. Even if at first glance you can see some links and connections between my work and the 1960s pop artists, because I am using the same techniques as they were using, the images silkscreened on panels, but the images I use are not already famous iconic images, but images that I deeply seek into what I am cherishing the most, which are the way to reconnect, throughout cultures or some practices nowadays. On top of that, to work with strong sexual content doesn't help me to sell more paintings; on the contrary, it's more a disadvantage. Also in advertising, sex images are there to sell something other than themselves, objects like cars, apartments, yoghurts, sodas and so on, but to buy an explicit sexual scene by itself as the only subject matter, is quite disturbing for the buyer. That's the main reason why Koons had chosen to produce puppies instead of ceramics showing himself having sex with the Cicciolina!
In fact, in my work, I am recuperating, recycling and transforming all those short-lived sex-porn web garbage-images into art.

Mayan Diary # 31, acrylic silkscreened on Plexiglas, 1.40 x 1.40 m, 2008. Courtesy the artist.

KM: Your works are more than just sexualised illustrations; they delve much deeper into the social condition of the modern world, would you agree with this?

JPS: Yes you are totally right. I am trying to represent in my works some different way of thinking, different way of approaching colours and bodies, sex and death. Today everybody feels so disconnected from nature, that for someone living in a big city or even a small one, his only way to feel connected is through sex, that is the last and ultimate place where you can have a chance to feel again interwoven to the body of someone else and to experience pleasure, life cycles, love and a glance at universal bliss.

KM: Which artist or artists would you say have inspired your work the most?

JPS: In point of fact and surprisingly, it’s not the artists exhibited in museums and galleries that inspire me the most now. I am mostly influenced by all works done before artists even had a name, and their works were at that time totally anonymous and sometimes collective, as in all the prehistoric cave paintings, the beautiful mural paintings from the temples and tombs in ancient Egypt, Mexico or India. During my formative years, I was influenced by the following artists: Filippino Lippi, Cranach, Brueghel, Caravaggio, Rembrandt, El Greco, Vermeer, Goya, Gauguin, Picasso, Morandi, Matisse, Rothko, Newman, Pollock, Klein, Beuys…




View of the exhibition, Nature, Cultures, The Worlds Origin's, 3.15 x 6.30 m, 2012, Farm of Flagey, Musée Courbet, France.

KM: How would you describe your work in your own words?

JPS: First, we have to put things in perspective: the art world and, to an extent, the world as a whole, is no longer a post-industrial, postmodern, or post-religious one, but I think it has become today a post-cultural world. In a few words, all that used to be known by mankind was given and transmitted to us by the cultures we all belonged to and transmitted by the ancestral teachings & traditions. Now all we need to know in order to survive will be used by contemporary computers in the purpose of making money and buying consumer goods, being ‘happy’ without any concern for our surrounding social environment. So the cultural links so important at one time are no more necessary and become just affective ones, that you can choose to use them or not. And of course as people are lazy, they prefer to use the channels of technology instead of the cultural ones, which take much more time to understand and to practise, but which can ground us deeper, with the help of poetry, painting, literature, music, dance, theatre, and spiritual practices, to all human beings, the earth, and the universe.

My work delves deeply into the human subconscious in order to show and remember all the different cultures I am interested in and which were so important (for those who disappeared) at some historical point. My paintings, as an art object, speak directly not only to the mind but also to the guts, the sex, to everyone's body energy as long as they are not blocked by morality, religious beliefs or social constraints. My work in that purpose is like a tool, like a can opener or a hammer, forcing the viewer to experience within his own body a kind of trance, an initiatory trip and to merge himself into a world of pleasures and colours without pain and suffering. But there, in that place, in that sacred ebullating area, still remain the necessary conflicts, the mixing, between life and death, beauty and ugliness, stillness and energies, flowers and harsh obscenities, straight geometrical patterns and the arousal of eccentricity of life sexuality into the universal demiurgic chaos.

Jean-Pierre Sergent sur les terres de Gustave Courbet
En marge de l’exposition « Cet obscur objet de désirs - Autour de L’Origine du monde » qui vient d’ouvrir ses portes au musée Gustave Courbet d’Ornans (dont il sera prochainement question dans ces colonnes), l’artiste plasticien franco-new yorkais Jean-Pierre Sergent est accueilli par la ville, à la galerie du Caveau des Arts (7, rue Saint-Vernier, Ornans) jusqu’au 13 juin.
Sous le titre « Le Désir, la Matrice, la Grotte et le Lotus blanc », symboles de l'éternel féminin, le peintre présente de grandes œuvres sur Plexiglas, ainsi qu’une série de travaux sur papier récents. Inspirée d’une lecture des Upanishad (textes philosophiques fondateurs de l’Hindouisme), cette exposition propose des réalisations bien en phase avec la toile la plus célèbre de Gustave Courbet, mais aussi avec d’autres tableaux du maître, qui consacrent la Femme, l’érotisme, les forces vitales de la nature jusque dans ces "paysages vaginaux" de grottes qu'en Franche-Comté, on appelle aussi Dames.

Illustration : Jean-Pierre Sergent, Le désir, la matrice, la grotte et le lotus blanc, acrylique sérigraphiée sur papier Rives BFK, 2014, 25 x 25 cm.

La technique sérigraphique de l’artiste lui permet de s’exprimer à travers la superposition de plusieurs couches de motifs, qui captent le regard du spectateur, lequel, au-delà de l’esthétique globale et complexe qu’il perçoit d’abord, se livre à un exercice de découverte, de décodage, pour in fine en lire toute la signification. Parfois aussi, l’œuvre parle d’elle-même, et s’offre comme une nouvelle étape de ce cheminement sans fin qu’est l’histoire de l’art. Ainsi en est-il du Plexiglas intitulé The Female Orgasm (2012), qui, sous une apparence très explicite, renvoie non seulement à L’Origine du monde par son cadrage fragmentaire, mais encore, à travers les textes qu’elle contient, à l’étonnante Infâme Vénus couchée de Jean-Jacques Lequeu (1779), exceptionnellement prêtée cet été au Musée Courbet.
Lors d’une visite, la veille du vernissage, nous avons, avec Jean-Pierre Sergent, improvisé quatre courts dialogues devant quelques-unes de ses réalisations, visibles sur son site Internet (http://www.j-psergent.com/) ou en suivant ces liens : 1, 2, 3 et 4. On pourra également retrouver des œuvres sur papier de Jean-Pierre Sergent et d’autres artistes contemporains à la galerie Maréchal (63/65, rue Pierre Vernier, Ornans) qui présente une exposition estivale sous le titre « L’Origine du monde, une proposition contemporaine ».

Le Désir, matrice de l'œuvre de Jean-Pierre Sergent

Thomas Comte, La presse Bisontine, juin 2014

Le désir et la sexualité sont des constantes dans le travail de l'artiste-peintre Jean-Pierre Sergent. En marge de l'exposition "Autour de L'Origine du monde" organisée au Musée Courbet, il présentera ses œuvres au Caveau des arts à Ornans, 7 rue Saint-Vemier. L'exposition s'intitule "Le désir, la matrice, la grotte et le lotus blanc". On peut découvrir notamment six peintures sur Plexiglas de grand format ont été spécialement choisies pour illustrer ces concepts du désir. Par le thème suggéré, érotique souvent, beaucoup d'œuvres de Jean-
Pierre Sergent font écho à la peintre de Gustave Courbet. À découvrir.

Ornans, Tout en rêves érotiques

En réalisant « The Female Orgasm », Jean-Pierre Sergent explicite à sa façon « L'OrigIne du Monde » de Courbet.

Jean-Pierre Sergent, peintre franco-new-yorkais, qui vit et travaille à Besançon, expose ses « peintures sur Plexiglas »
au caveau des Arts à Ornans. Une présentation qui coïncide avec l'inauguration de l'exposition « Cet obscur objet de désirs, autour de L'Origine du Monde », au Musée Courbet.

Un regard posé par l'homme sur le réel, sa création, l'émotion, de la poésie du désir et des métaphores qu'elle suscite dans le subconscient humain. L'artiste présente autour de ces thèmes une série de petits dessins sur papier qui viennent compléter les six peintures sérigraphiques de
grands formats aux couleurs primaires volontairement accrocheuses. Pour être en accord total avec l'exposition du musée Courbet, J.-P Sergent présente « Thé Female Orgasm », une œuvre peinte en 2012, clin d'œil malicieux à « L'Origine du Monde » décrivant à la façon d'une bande dessinée ou d'un graffiti les différentes parties d'un sexe féminin avec son mode d'emploi coquin.

L'exposition de Jean-Pierre Sergent se tient au caveau des Arts, 7, rue Saint-Vernier à Ornans.

Le désir, la matrice, la grotte et le lotus blanc

Sophie Garnier, Le Mag, Ornans

C'est le nom de l'exposition de Jean-Pierre Sergent qui aura lieu au Caveau des Arts, Place Saint-Vernier à
Ornans du 6 au l3 juin 20l4.

Au programme, six peintures sur Plexiglas grands formats qui illustrent les symboles sexuels féminins
du désir, de la matrice, de la grotte et du lotus blanc, seront exposées parmi d'autres œuvres plus anciennes.

Artiste peintre franco-new-yorkais Jean-Pierre Sergent expose à l'international ses œuvres depuis plusieurs années, et c'est à Besançon qu'il a décidé de s'installer pour y vivre et y travailler. Inspirée des Upanishads, livre ancien de plus de trois mille ans et fondateur de la pensée Hindoue, cette exposition sera présentée lors de l'inauguration de l'exposition «Cet obscur objet de désirs autour de L'Origine du Monde», au Musée Courbet d'Ornans. Exposition qui montrera exceptionnellement le fameux tableau de Gustave Courbet : L'Origine du Monde.

Une œuvre, un artiste : Derrière le Plexiglas

par Michèle Yahavoui, Carnets Comtois, octobre 2013 | Télécharger l'article

Dans son atelier à Besançon, l’artiste Jean-Pierre Sergent ouvre la porte sur d’autres mondes. A découvrir à la Biennale des arts plastiques de Micropolis. Des arbres, des libellules et des papillons ? Devant ce beau tableau coloré et transparent à la fois, le curieux a envie de comprendre le pourquoi du comment. Ce doit être lassant pour l’artiste de toujours devoir expliquer l’arrière du décor. Allez, juste une fois encore.
Originaire de Morteau, Jean-Pierre Sergent a élevé des chevaux à Damprichard, avant de s’envoler pour créer des tableaux à Toronto. C’est un important galeriste de cette ville qui l’a incité à changer de support. « A cette époque, je peignais sur de l’isorel ». Le galeriste le met en garde : le support n’est pas stable et abîme la peinture.
Jean-Pierre Sergent expérimente alors d’autres matériaux pour finalement s’arrêter sur le Plexiglas. « Au départ, je peignais devant. Ensuite, derrière. J’aime bien comme cela ».
Il utilise la technique de la sérigraphie pour transférer ses images sur Plexiglas. « Je ne vois pas mon oeuvre. C’est un procédé qui libère l’esprit. Je travaille par couches successives. J’accumule et quand je sens qu’il se passe quelque chose, j’arrête ». Le processus créatif a ses raisons que la raison ne connaît pas. Chaque tableau s’apprécie individuellement, mais l’artiste réalise également des assemblages. C’est comme si les mots formaient des phrases. L’oeuvre monumentale qui tapisse le mur de son atelier semble avoir une incroyable histoire à raconter. La réputation de Jean-Pierre Sergent va bien au-delà de la Franche-Comté.
Entouré de plus d’une centaine d’artistes, il participera à la prochaine Biennale des arts plastiques organisée du 18 au 20 octobre à Micropolis-Besançon. Il y présentera trois oeuvres dont celle-ci, lumineuse comme un soleil.
Le néophyte y voit de jolies petites fleurs, des papillons et des libellules. Jean-Pierre Sergent invite à pénétrer dans son monde où la répétition du motif renvoie à la transe. « Quand on entre en transe, on rencontre l’âme des morts, les papillons et les libellules ».
Pour un esprit rationnel, tout cela peut paraître étrange. Jean-Pierre Sergent ne reste pas campé dans la civilisation occidentale. Son épouse d’origine colombienne et son long séjour à New-York lui ont ouvert la voie vers d’autres univers. Dans la ville cosmopolite, il s’est intéressé à d’autres cultures.
Devant son tableau, il évoque le chamane discutant avec les esprits au centre du village. « Je ne suis pas à l’aise dans une culture, une société. Quelle que soit la grandeur d’une époque, il manque toujours quelque chose ». A sa façon à lui, dans le plexi, il s’efforce de rétablir le lien. « En fait, c’est une peinture mystique, mais vous pouvez voir des libellules et des papillons ». Lui, invite à aller au-delà de la transparence, au-delà des évidences.

Jean-Pierre Sergent, exposition « Cultures Energies »

Thierry Savatier, Les Mauvaises Fréquentations, 17 juin 2013

L’artiste plasticien Jean-Pierre Sergent, dont il a été question à plusieurs reprises dans ces colonnes, puise son inspiration dans la symbolique des cultures. Son procédé habituel, la sérigraphie sur papier ou sur Plexiglas, impose un travail en couches successives. Et ce sont, précisément, des couches successives de cultures qui se superposent dans ses créations. Graphismes aztèques ou mayas, yantras hindous, mais aussi mangas érotiques japonais se retrouvent ainsi interprétés sur une palette variée de couleurs souvent vives. L’énergie vitale qui en émane surprend les sens de l’observateur, lequel découvre, enfoui en lui, un rapport à l’univers aussi surprenant que singulier.

Ici, l’artiste occupe un rôle de passeur, proposant aux spectateurs de plonger dans une sorte de « soupe primordiale » dont ils ont, depuis longtemps, oublié jusqu’à l’existence. Dans une époque contemporaine de plus en plus habituée aux simplifications réductrices, aux classifications binaires, donc manichéennes, il nous fait prendre conscience de la complexité du monde, qui ne se limite ni au matériel ni au visible. Le fait, par exemple, qu’une œuvre érotique puisse, au-delà des apparences, relever de la recherche spirituelle implique un nécessaire questionnement de nos échelles de valeurs occidentales. Car celles-ci, fondées sur une morale qui est le fruit d’une construction intellectuelle vieille de 2000 ans – ce qui est assez peu au regard de l’Histoire de l’Humanité – formatent, consciemment ou non, le regard. Voilà pourquoi l’artiste invite à d’autres interprétations, d’autres approches que celles qui nous viendraient spontanément à l’esprit. Cette confrontation est tout à fait revigorante.

 Le Kunstpalais de Badenweiler (Allemagne), non loin de Mulhouse, accueille actuellement, et jusqu’au 21 juillet 2013, une exposition réunissant une cinquantaine d’œuvres de Jean-Pierre Sergent, intitulée « Cultures Energies ». Parmi celles-ci, on notera particulièrement un grand travail sur papier, Bondage & Freedom (1,50 m x 3 m) et sept Plexiglas (1,40 m x 1,40 m).

JEAN-PIERRE SERGENT IM KUNSPALAIS

BADISCHE ZEITUNG, samstag, 1. juni 2013

AUSSTELLUNG "Cultures - Energies" - Arbeiten auf Plexiglas und auf Papier

BADENWEILER. Das Kunstpalais präsentierte neuere Arbeiten von Jean-Pierre Sergent, Besancon, geboren 1958 inMorteau im Departement   Doubs   (Franche-Comte). Die Ausstellung tragt den Titel "Cultures - Energies" (Arbeiten auf Plexiglas und auf Papier) und ist vom 8.Juni bis21. Juli zu sehen.

Entgegen der eherjuristisch orientierten Familientradition wandte sich Sergent der Kunstlerlaufbahn zu, studierte Architektur in StraBburg und Malerei an der Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Besancon.

Er begann mit geometrischen Abstraktionen, beschaftigte sich auch mit bildhauerischen Arbeiten - umd gleichzeitig erzog und trainierte er amerikanische Pferde im Tal des Doubs, des groBen Fiusses,der auch das Stadtbild von Besançon prägt.

1991 ging Sergent zuerst nach Montreal, dann 1993 nach New York, um sich ausschlieBlich der Malerei zu widmen. In New York richtete er sich ein Studio ein, arbeitete mit Collagen aus Objets trouves, Fotografien und Zeitungsausschnitten und begann mit ersten Serigraphien (Siebdrucken)

auf Plexiglas. ErarbeitetealsGrafiker bei der Drexel-Press in New York und schuf dort für die Alliance Française das monumentale Werk "Suspended Time". Spater entwickelte er unter dem Titel "Mayan Diary" mobile und variable Wandinstallationen, die er in verschiedenen Galerien und Kulturzentren

in New York ausstellte. Die Jahrein Amerika ware

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