Interview by Jimon

1-Where do you call home currently? I am from Canada, Saguenay to be exact in the province of Quebec. My city is not a hub only around 150000 population.

2-How would you describe Jean Bergeron? Jean Bergeron is a peaceful man of 53 years.  I’m just a modest artist who is trying to do his best. I’m working as a cook to bring back money at home because actually I cannot live just with my art. Hope that it will happen one day :).  My studio is in my house and I have been making art every day since 2014 that is when I started Vie_Pub_like my daily art project.  I share my studio with my two cats that I love so much.  They are always close to me and are considered like family members.

3-Did you study art or is it all inherent? I studied graphic design and have a bachelorette Degree from the University Laval of Quebec. And after I received a master’s of fines art at the same institution.

4-What do you dream about? What do I dream about? Well, my girlfriend is suffering of Multiple sclerosis, so honestly, my ultimate dream would be to find a medicine that can heal her. Closer about my artistic direction, I would like to be able to do art full time and earn my living with it. I’m working everyday for that but I’m aware that my art is not so much commercial and accessible too.

5-How did you acquire your style? I don’t know, just doing my best and that’s it. I think there is no recipe for that. You are who you are. I don’t try to copy someone. I think I got my own style and it’s always work in progress and learning.

6-How would you describe your work, painting, collage or … ? I Can’t talk about my art without aborting the beginning of Vie_Pub_like experiment, the core of my artistic practice. Founded in 2014, I decide to make a daily artwork with using bills I receive or such items like notes, messages or any others pertinent item, like a visual diary. My art is intuitive and spontaneous. When I start my daily artwork, I make collage first then I use different mediums as support like pencils, ink, acrylic painting and much more. I have no idea of what I will get. Freedom is the best definition of my art.  The more important and essential thing: have fun while doing it! That’s the clue for doing art for such long time. Working everyday is good to keep discipline and stay active in art. It’s just a must for me.

7-What else interests you besides art? Other than art, I love training and spend time with my girlfriend and meet some friends and enjoy life. My main work as a cook takes a lot of time too. So I’m very busy and time passes very fast.

8-Who is your favorite artist? My favorite artist is Kurt Schwitters. I discovered him when I was very young. I was fascinated by his compositions with pieces of paper. This artist is amazing and his Merzbau is completely insane. I just love him.

9-What has the most influence on your work? Well, like it’s a daily process. I guess emotion is the best conductor in what I create. Each artwork must be done in a period of 24 hours and there is no return on the artwork, so feeling and emotions of the day give direction to the results.

10-Do you listen to music while creating?  If yes, what genre?  Yes, I am always listening to music in my studio. Mainly, I prefer rock music like Agalloch, Anathema or pink Floyd but I’m not cased in a specific style. I pass a lot of time in my studio so I need different moods as well.

11-How would you like to be seen as an artist years from now? Well, hope to be much more popular but I know that it takes time and a lot of work. Actually, I just do my little business and I think that life brings me good opportunities like this interview among others. Since the beginning of Vie_Pub_Like experiment, many things have happened. I have a lot of interactions with the international artistic community. I Think to Carl Heyward, Danielle Lauzon and Edith hutter. I participated in the virtual  exhibit, called  “ArtWall “, organised by Laszlo Ladany in Hungary. In 2018, I opened my virtual Etsy store, giving the opportunity to everyone to buy my exclusive artworks from my daily project. Recently, my artworks are on sale in a store called Spacehomeandgarden in California. Step by step and slowly my art gets out there and I’m proud of these realizations because when I was young few people believe in my art.

12-Do you have a place/person/thing that you visit for inspiration? Yes, there is a place in my town called ” Centre national d’exposition de Jonquiere” which I like a lot. This place is a contemporary gallery and I like to spend time and see other aritsts’ work. It’s always a happy time for me.

13-If you could have dinner with three artists living/dead who would be at your table? Well, Kurt Schwitters for sure, then Jean Tinguely and Jean-Michel Basquiat.

14-Name three things you can’t live without in your studio? first: Music, it’s a must. Second: My black cat named Gros Doudou. Third: I got many pictures and artworks on the walls of my studio. All are good memories, reminding me that life can be beautiful and funny.

15-If you were asking the questions what question would you ask and please answer the question.

I would like to ask: What action of yours are you most proud of? That I started to make art after 20 years of inactivity. Let me explain: when I finished school in 1995, the internet was not as popular as it is now. Social media did not exist and I felt alone. In my background too, like I said, people didn’t believe in my art and the possibility of it being interesting. These facts killed my creativity and the result was that I stopped all artistic production for around 20 years. The emergence of social media was like a new breath. Dissemination of my art was now possible. It was a revelation for me and it explained the reason for my being. The world is now open and no one can decide if you are a good artist for exhibition. All is possible now and accessibility is not a problem.

16-How would someone find you on Social media? Instagram, just type vie_pub_like or Jean Bergeron. And you can purchase my originals at viepublikeart.etsy.com  and shipping is always free everywhere.

17-Please name the first thing that comes to your mind while reading the following:

Art : freedom

Food: Lobster

Sports: bench

Politics : boring

Sex: love

Luxury: Motley Crue

Poor: people without culture

Rich: Dow Jones

God: Jésus

Religion: war

Picasso: modern art

Afterlife: hope