Message

Who am I and
what is my background?

By Patrick Gerola

I was born in the center of Brussels on June 28, 1959 and from an early age I have been immersed in the world of painting. And it soon became my whole life.

In the first place I owe this to my mother Irene, herself a poet and painter, who introduced me to the world of art at a very young age. She was a very beautiful woman who not only painted, but also posed for many artists who made magnificent portraits of her. One of them was Léon Pringels, professor at the Saint-Gilles Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels.

As a little boy I often wandered around the Marolles district where the memory of Pieter Bruegel, the illustrious inhabitant of yesteryear, is still vivid. My teacher Agnes Dekrom gave me the opportunity to study his work thoroughly. It fascinated me infinitely. We often went to Vlazendaal, the countryside not far from Brussels. It gave us the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of the artist and to discover with our own eyes the landscapes that he depicted with so much talent in his paintings.

On rainy Sundays, I took advantage of the free entry to the Royal Museum of Fine Arts to discover his works and unlock their secrets.

My destiny was determined and sent me to Marianne Dock’s class at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts for a thorough education.

One day in 1981 I attended the opera and ballet performance “Cinderella” in the Monnaie Theater. It was love at first sight and this made me decide to work as a scenographer at “Mudra”, Maurice Béjart’s ballet school. Here I was able to collaborate with the great artists of the time. On stage I discovered the three-dimensional world of dance, music and painting that would define my own art.

I worked there with Micha Van Hoecke, director of Mudra and choreographer of “L’Ensemble”, a company of his former students. One of the dancers was from Japan. In 1983 I had the exceptional opportunity to travel with him to his native country for a few months. I was immediately moved and fascinated by this strange biotope that was so different from the world I had been used to since childhood. I felt like I was on the other side of a mirror. I met Tomomi, a Japanese lyric singer, who would later become my wife.

I have now felt at home in the hectic life of Japan for forty years. I spent 12 of them in Kamakura, the ancient capital of the Shogunate, filled with art and history, and now live in one of the outskirts of Tokyo.

Today, I am still continuing my professional career as an artist-painter in Japan. However, I could never forget my native Belgium and my many friends over there. This is the main reason why I occasionally return with great pleasure to my other home along the Damse Vaart. In this way I go on with my life and just follow the path where my feelings lead me.

I paint, but how?

My technique will probably be unknown to you. I make my colors from pure pigments used in the traditional Japanese Nihonga paintings. I then mix them with tree resin according to my own recipe. This gives my colors a unique transparency and powerful vitality.

A variant of this technique was already used by the first cave artists, who used plants, clay and other natural products for their colors. The damp walls were dried by the artists with the help of torches. From this arose the al fresco technique.

These colors could only be created just before use. In addition, they were erratic and changed with the seasons. This method almost completely disappeared. Italian art schools rediscovered the technique in the nineteenth century and breathed new life into it. My older brother Jean-Marie, who is also an artist-painter and lives in Italy, showed me the possibilities.

The collaboration with the dance world has strongly influenced my way of painting. Every movement is carried by music and transports me in the way I put my brush on the canvas. It vibrates and dances like a ballet choreography. Each painting thus becomes part of the performance.

Caravaggio’s chiaroscuro has also influenced me. He liked to paint at night by candlelight, to be able to control the colors in very low light. Working in dark conditions generates a much brighter palette than the often sad and dark colors in brightly lit studios. My colors thus dominate the canvas.

In my painting “Creation” we observe a field depicting the iconic red and yellow poppies, illuminated by the rays of the sun. You can feel the warmth and vitality of each flower. On the horizon, a cobalt blue sky meets the sea, giving a feeling of freedom and hope. Each flower sings and dances in a musical concert. The lines sometimes represent violins, sometimes bayonets that move in the distance.

In my painting “Moonlight” we find the same landscape, but in the light of the night. The flowers are blue and with the sunset the sky turns completely bright red. This shows that the colors of the same landscape can be transformed at any time thanks to the changes in the light show.

And  what is my gigantic “Manneken-Pis” doing in the midst of my paintings? Why did I choose to transpose some of my works on these 2.20 m high sculptures? As a child I used to meet many foreign tourists who were happy to discover this symbol of Brussels, but were surprised that it is only 62 cm high. I decided to offer them a version that would meet their expectations! Each image is a living painting, a sympathetic and popular symbol of my homeland and a faithful evocation of my origin.

My art reflects my philosophy

In the relationship between humans and nature, it sometimes seems as if the trees share their emotions with us. This experience profoundly and permanently changes those who live it.

My inspiration comes straight from nature and the light it radiates. It is reproduced in my paintings in the form of movements, sounds and colors. It comes down to capturing atmospheres and smells, knowing how to listen to the birds and feeling the wind caressing your face. Painting a landscape with heart and soul as you feel it, not trying to be influenced by fashions and artistic trends that are too often manipulated by the art trade.

Contemporary modern art takes two different paths: one wants to create works on a solid foundation rooted in tradition, the other wants to break with convention and find ideas without worrying about shapes and colors.

For my part, I believe that art that belonged to the past has a future. The art of the present only exists in the moment and immediately disappears with it. There was a time when artists were craftsmen and could not cheat. A landscape or a portrait was painted and the result had to be clear.

The art market often leads us to believe that art is difficult to understand. But in reality you can judge for yourself whether a landscape is beautiful or not. When we taste a dish, we can also assess whether it is tasty or not. The same applies to art. It is something you feel with your heart and your own senses. Either you like it or not!

Painting is a big responsibility. One projects one’s energy into the lives of others with one’s own feelings. Therefore, we must be vigilant and work in perfect harmony with ourselves.

Shapes and colors are remedies for improving life. In the modern world we have less and less time to think about nature. However, this is necessary to neutralize harmful vibrations and absorb positive ones, to humanize our relationship with the world.

That’s my philosophy.

What about the look in someone else's eyes?

What encourages me most in my work is the gaze of others, their testimonials in the messages I receive after an exhibition.

Sometimes I meet people who were not really interested in painting until then. Then I notice while talking that they still develop a certain need to discover new works, other painters, other exhibitions.

Isn’t this one of the most beautiful recognitions for an artist?

A painting can convey happiness or serenity or the state of mind of its creator. It is important to remain honest with themselves as the public is well aware of this.

Realizing this is one of the keys to success.