Bernard Denis

Although a native of northern France, Bernard is part of an old Chalonnaise family: he arrived in our city at the age of 18, after having traveled a lot following various transfers of his father, bank manager. His grandfather, director of the Debray establishments in Chalon, owned a property in the Bellevue district. The family has reunited with her over time. Bernard Denis did not “arrive” at art, he has always, deep down, lived with it. He was admitted to the Monaco competition, a “plastic arts” discipline that he prepared by correspondence, but “it didn't happen”… as he says. Whatever… when he arrived in Chalon-sur-Saône, Bernard chose the industrial design sector at “la Prof”. Became a business manager in a company specializing in the technique - fine and thick thermoforming molds, aircraft engines, studies and achievements, pre-projects and projects, car bodywork, all blisters: croissant, perfume, pens- become a European leader in his field and with up to 200 employees… he chose, when he retired very recently, to sell his company to his executives… who continue to carry on the “boss” job in our region . Bernard Denis wanted to evolve in art ... from a young age ... And it is today, last January, that he opened his plastic arts workshop, as an auto-entrepreneur, in a magnificent contemporary house, which was for a time the headquarters of his company and today his home, located rue de Germigny in Chalon-sur-Saône, next to the synagogue of our city. Bernard Denis' work mainly focuses on renovated recovery ... He searches for all the flea markets in the region, collects abandoned and abandoned objects in all materials: ceramic, bronze, leather, cardboard, plastic ... broken things, store failures , abandoned collections, shops that close and liquidate their stocks, lots of lighters, small cars, stamps, banknotes, door handles, corks ... shop mannequins, animals in all materials dented ... That he loosens up with collages of cigar rings, stamps, banknotes ... until he turns them into works of art ranging from the sophisticated mannequin to the funny pig, from the mastiff to the shark fish ... to paintings by countless objects next to each other: small cars, ping-pong balls, fishing floats, pin-up collages, verrines… so on and the best !! A real work of plastic artist concerned about his environment, wishing to transmit through his feelings, the continuity of life through inanimate objects !! Bernard Denis is aware of occupying an athypical and magical place that he wishes to open up to art and to tourists ... who do him well in spite of himself ... because although nested in a "bend" starting from the quays of the Saône and leading to the rue de Traves, visit regularly during cruises on our river. Take the detour .. the artist is worth the detour… His approach is atypical: he has gone, as he says, “from leisure to professional amateur”…