Engraver, painter, sculptor and ceramist Alain Berck-Vitz was born in 1953. The artist lives and works between Sweden, Spain and the Creuse Valley. His mysterious work is inspired by the African masks he has been collecting since a visit to the south of what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1964, when he brought back his first pieces of tribal art. This formidable and important collection grew steadily over the years, as did the artist's travels in Africa. Those who discover his...

• Back to Artists & Stock Read biography ARTIST ALARM

  Biography of Alain Berck-Vitz

  Engraver, painter, sculptor and ceramist Alain Berck-Vitz was born in 1953. The artist lives and works between Sweden, Spain and the Creuse Valley. His mysterious work is inspired by the African masks he has been collecting since a visit to the south of what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1964, when he brought back his first pieces of tribal art. This formidable and important collection grew steadily over the years, as did the artist's travels in Africa. Those who discover his masks, both the authentic ones and those he creates, must follow an unknown path to penetrate his bewildering universe of light and shadow. In his work, Alain Berck-Vitz preserves the sacred character of the masks, shrouded in secrecy.
  "I seek to recreate the mystical atmosphere of the dense African forest. We enter another world where the unknown reigns, wild beasts, the traps of a luxuriant and hostile nature with all its dangers. Above all, the places where the spirits take refuge," writes the artist.Inspired by a world that fascinates him, Alain Berck-Vitz creates carborundum engravings, fired in his own workshops, and ceramic boxes and masks using the Japanese raku technique. The empty spaces he often leaves where the eyes should be pose a troubling question: what if these spirits were watching us? His luminous eyes inevitably recall some vague encounter with a distant or vanished civilization, and carry you off into their legendary dreams.The artist who saw the masks dance on a full-moon night in Katanga doesn't stop at the borders of the Democratic Republic of Congo. A major exhibition, "Coeur Sauvage" at the Musée de la Vallée de la Creuse in Eguson in 2012, will summarize his astonishing career and present both his collection and the work accomplished over several decades; in 2014, the installation-exhibition (with Antoine Thibaudeau) "Les visiteurs de la pénombre", in the mythical crypt of the Gargilesse church, will once again show, this time through his sculpture, the loving relationship Alain Breck-Vitz has with Africa.We know that Vlaminck's 1905 acquisition of his first African mask in Argenteuil left a lasting impression on many of his contemporaries, and that ethnographic art penetrated Cubist canvases.Alain Berck-Vitz's work is internationally renowned, thanks to some fifty solo exhibitions and numerous international shows.
  
  

  

  You wish to be alarmed for any new work by this artist? Please enter your email.

  I have read and accept the website mchampetier.com's Confidentiality and personal data protection charter.

  Alarm me