Christian Berst has a dream: to show that art brut – a term coined by the artist Jean Dubuffet – is much more than just ‘crazy people art.’ The gallerist’s goal is to bring to light the full spectrum of this so called ‘naive’ form of art; encompassing the work of artists from all forms of alterity, both mental and social. Berst established his gallery in Bastille in 2005, and five years on, moved to the heart of the Marais. In autumn of 2020, he opened a new space, The Bridge, dedicated to creating new connections between art brut and other forms of creation.
Born in Alsace in 1964, Berst never graduated from high school. Instead of going on to university or one of the grandes écoles, he spent 18 months working on a factory assembly line, repetitively putting together plastic objects. He read widely, learning about literature, history, politics, and art. By the mid-1980s he was hired by the audiovisual service of the Department of Health in Paris, where he knew no one. Later he worked for several years at the publisher Actes Sud, refining their digital bookstore chapitre.com.
Berst first came to art brut, not through artworks, but through literature, discovering the work of Adolf Wölfli (1864–1930) over 30 years ago in a bookstore in Paris, in Saint-Germain-des-Prés. A major figure of 20th century art, the Swiss artist produced over 1,500 sketches and a 25,000-page imaginary autobiography. Since then, Berst has never stopped exploring art from the margins – an essential aspect of artistic expression, with its fascinating, and at times troubling, sensibilities. All things considered, his path towards art brut was natural, if not direct. ‘I spent my entire childhood and youth drawing,’ he says. The ‘epiphany’ he describes experiencing on discovering art brut had its roots in his own personal journey and private artistic passion. Later, he became increasingly frustrated with the shortcomings of art history and institutions, which, at the time, were unable to embrace art brut within the continuum of artistic expression. ‘I’ve always believed that to understand, you first have to see,’ he explains ‘and art brut suffered from a lack of visibility, because institutions failed to engage with and conceptualize it.’
Berst pushes for a rigorous definition of art brut: art born of otherness, either chosen or enforced, which encompasses ‘a field of creative expression that is vitally necessary to the artists; art that is not made to enter into dialogue with art history, nor with the artists’ peers or predecessors, nor to gain recognition from museums or galleries or hold exhibitions or meet market expectations. It is the unfolding of an individual mythology on a collision path with the collective mythology.’ Throughout his early years as a gallerist, the lack of recognition from art institutions, along with habits acquired in the publishing industry, pushed him to thoroughly document his exhibitions: to date, he has published over 100 catalogs. ‘A document provides a trace of the time and space of an exhibition, and at the same time it goes beyond it, in its ability to dig deeper into the subject. It gives people a way to interrogate and discuss the exhibition in the future.’
Berst understands the fascination many collectors have for art brut: ‘It’s a kind of synthesis between the personal and the universal. It represents what we all want to find in a work of art: something that, at a given moment, resonates on our frequency, making us think and feel.’ When he first began getting interested there were very few initiatives to bring it to public attention, but more have developed over time: ‘through the work of gallerists and a handful of institutions, including LaM [Lille Métropole Musée d’art moderne, d’art contemporain, et d’art brut in Villeneuve d’Ascq], and due to growing interest from collectors and farsighted art historians. In Paris, this trend brought us the Maison Rouge [2004–2018], an initiative by the collector Antoine de Galbert, not exclusively focused on promoting art brut, but rather, on showing the entire spectrum of Modern and contemporary art.’
A range of similar initiatives sprang up and, by the mid-2010s, they had begun to influence the world of art and curation, breaking down barriers between genres. Berst sees The Bridge as part of this trend. ‘I’m also passionate about providing a platform for authors, critics, art historians, and writers so that they can take up the cause of art brut and make their own contribution. It’s the next logical step – not just publishing, but also organizing round tables, discussions, symposiums, and trying to theorize the genre collectively. Because in the end, that’s where we’ve really fallen short. I’m happy to hear a whole range of opinions, and even meet opposition, if the person I’m talking to has thought deeply about the topic.’
Yamina Benaï is the founder and editor in chief of Geste/s (Groupe Beaux Arts & Cie), a quarterly magazine dedicated to craftsmanship, savoir faire, and contemporary creation. Specializing in contemporary art and lifestyle she is also a contributor to Le Quotidien de l’Art. She was formerly editor in chief of L’Officiel Art.
English translation: Alice Heathwood.
Caption for full-bleed images: 1. The gallerist in his space, Paris, 2022. 2. Joaquim Vicens Girondella, The Spirit of The Old Castle, 1948, included in the exhibition 'brut treasures' at The Bridge, December 8, 2022 - January 22, 2023. 3. Berst at his desk, Paris, 2022. All photos by Manuel Obadia-Wills for Paris+ par Art Basel.