Bernard Pras

Bernard Pras is the son of Jacques Pras, a cyclist from the 1940s and 1950s. He was partly raised by his grandmother, who ran a grocery store and would later introduce him to the art world. In 1974, after graduating from the Toulouse Academy, Bernard Pras taught several courses on art and focused his interest primarily on the engravings of Claude Manesse.

In the late 1980s, after years of experimentation, he introduced the aquagravure technique, and in his specialized studio he welcomed and met the most famous artists from around the world (including Corneille), who produced the most extraordinary aquagravures under his watchful eye.

In 1994, Bernard Pras began creating material installations consisting of a collection of various objects and photographing them, in the spirit of Arcimboldo a few centuries earlier. His first major exhibition took place in 1998. The principle of anamorphosis became characteristic of Bernard Pras’s style, and over time he began to venture into creating even larger artistic arrangements of objects. His installations draw inspiration from art history (Crucifixion, Van Gogh) as well as from contemporary society (portraits of Albert Einstein, Mickey Mouse, and Catwoman).

Bernard Pras replaces brush and paint with objects and materials, offering his own interpretation of art. His extraordinary portraits emerge from a collection of the most unusual objects, such as toilet paper rolls, small containers, and salt shakers. He captures his temporary material installations in photographic prints produced in very limited editions, ensuring that the essence of his art endures and becomes accessible to the viewer.

Bernard Pras’s work is now represented worldwide at the most important art fairs and in the most prominent galleries.