Photorealism, perception and illusion in contemporary painting
Training and early years
Roberto Bernardi was born in Todi in 1974 and began painting at a very young age. After graduating, in 1993 he moved to Rome, where he undertook training in the field of restoration, working as an assistant restorer alongside Adriano Luzi. This experience allowed him to deepen his understanding of traditional painting techniques and materials.
After an initial phase dedicated to landscapes and portraits, his research progressively moved towards realism, with particular attention to precision of detail and the rendering of light.
The engagement with Photorealism
From the 1990s onwards, Bernardi explored American Photorealism, a movement that became a fundamental reference for the development of his language. In 1994, he held his first solo exhibition, initiating a research based on the relationship between photography and oil painting.
The photographic image becomes the starting point for an investigation into visual perception, depth and the rendering of materials. Painting is not limited to the reproduction of the image, but reconstructs every detail through an extremely rigorous technique.
New York and Pop culture
In the early 2000s, he came into contact with Louis K. Meisel, an important gallery owner and promoter of American Photorealism, beginning a collaboration with the Meisel Gallery in New York. In 2004, he spent a period in Manhattan, an experience that contributed to broadening his iconographic repertoire.
Sweets, candies, lollipops and transparent wrappers become the protagonists of his compositions. Everyday objects are isolated and enlarged, transforming into subjects of a painting that investigates reflections, transparencies, surfaces and imperfections.
Painting as illusion
Bernardi’s language is situated within the field of contemporary Hyperrealism, maintaining a strong link with the pictorial tradition. The precision of the surfaces and the rendering of light produce images of extraordinary verisimilitude, in which the boundary between reality and representation becomes increasingly thin.
Among the international projects developed by the artist are the Zurich Project, the Hamburg Project, the Las Vegas Project and the Beijing Project, created on the occasion of the 2008 Olympic Games. In 2009, the latter was presented in a solo exhibition at the Bernarducci.Meisel Gallery in New York.
International recognition
In 2010, he was selected by Eni as part of a project dedicated to international artists, and one of his works entered the company’s collection. Since 2012, he has participated in a major international museum tour dedicated to Photorealism, with stops at institutions such as the Kunsthalle Tübingen, the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid and the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.
In 2014, he was invited to the Contemporary Realism Biennial at the Fort Wayne Museum of Art. Since 2018, he has expanded his research to sculpture, creating three-dimensional works that take up the iconographic repertoire of his paintings, transferring the same technical precision to the representation of objects.
Critical interpretation
Roberto Bernardi’s research develops on the boundary between traditional painting, photography and contemporary culture. Through an extremely accurate technique, the artist transforms common objects into subjects of an investigation into light, matter and perception.
The perfection of the representation generates a continuous comparison between reality and illusion: the more real the image appears, the more the awareness of its artificial nature emerges. This tension also characterises his sculptural production, in which pictorial illusion is transformed into physical presence.
His works have been presented in numerous international exhibitions and have entered important public and private collections, including that of the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid.