Bertrand Lavier, born in France in 1949, has long reflected on the theory of painting and sculpture, and on how art relates to life. It was from this theoretical approach that his conceptual works were born. Despite the apparent simplicity of his work, it contains profound reflections on the place of art in the modern world. In 1982, Lavier decided to paint a piano, but instead of doing it on canvas, he painted it on an actual piano, which was the very thing he wanted to depict. So for the first time, he produced… a 3D painting! Traditionally, artists have always tried to represent reality by painting a picture or sculpting in marble. But with contemporary art, artists present reality in a more direct way, taking an object and transforming it into a work of art. This isn’t enough for Lavier, who believes that presentation and representation are the same thing. The beauty in his work, is that we no longer understand where art ends and where life begins.
Bertrand Lavier, born in France in 1949, has long reflected on the theory of painting and sculpture, and on how art relates to life. It was from this theoretical approach that his conceptual works were born. Despite the apparent simplicity of his work, it contains profound reflections on the place of art in the modern world. In 1982, Lavier decided to paint a piano, but instead of doing it on canvas, he painted it on an actual piano, which was the very thing he wanted to depict. So for the first time, he produced… a 3D painting! Traditionally, artists have always tried to represent reality by painting a picture or sculpting in marble. But with contemporary art, artists present reality in a more direct way, taking an object and transforming it into a work of art. This isn’t enough for Lavier, who believes that presentation and representation are the same thing. The beauty in his work, is that we no longer understand where art ends and where life begins.