Peintre d'art naïf
« If the work of German-born artist Irene Brandt seems familiar, perhaps that is because her paintings have graced dozens of calendars and were chosen two years running as UNICEF's holiday greeting card. Self-taught, Brandt's style is best described as naive or folk art. Specializing in acrylic paint since 1996, Brandt produces vividly whimsical scenes with the intent of disseminating a positive view of the world. Her fanciful depictions host recurring themes including clowns, bubbles, stylized mountains, overly exaggerated fish, and paper boats. Inspiration for her scenarios comes from Brandt's imagination, and never ceases to amuse her viewers. Commenting on her pieces, Brandt has said she rarely finishes one painting without it sparking the idea for her next. To maintain variation within her work Brandt eschews dimension creating the comical illustrations that have come to characterize her oeuvre. Brandt matches the hilarity of her pictures with the name she applies to each piece. Titles like "Bubbles on the Beach" and "The Well Hatted Ladies' Coffee Circle" immediately conjure humorous imagery within the mind that is no less entertaining when experienced through Brandt's design, something she extends beyond the canvas to the frame.
The art world has responded to Irene Brandt's work with rapt attention. Her work is on display around the world, in galleries from China to the United States, Japan and Europe and can be found within the permanent collections of 11 international museums... »(ARTisSpectrum, Vol. 19, May 2008, New York)
PARCOURS
Born 1955 in Waxweiler (Eifel), Germany,
Translator, entirely self-taught painter of naive art,worldwide exhibitions in more than 20 countries(e.g.: Europe, New York, Japan, Australia, China),paintings in private ownership in many countries,paintings in 13 permanent Museum collections:• MIAN – Museu Internacional de Arte Naif do Brasil, Rio de Janeiro• Musée International d'Art Naif de Magog, Magog-Quebec, Canada• MIDAN – Musée International d'Art Naif, Vicq/France• The Croatian Museum of Naive Art, Zagreb/Croatia• Museum of the Americas, Doral-Miami/Florida, USA• Museo Rómulo Raggio, Vicente López-Buenos Aires, Argentina• House of Humour, Grabovo, Bulgaria• Museo Cesare Zavattini, Luzzara, Italy• Musée d'Art Spontané, Schaerbeek-Brussels, Belgium• Museum of Naive Art, Jagodina, Serbia• M.A.N. Musée d'Art Naif, Béraut, France• LM Cartoon Museum, Nanjing City, China• Surgut Fine Arts Museum, Surgut, RussiaUNICEF published 2 of her motifs as greeting cards,many motifs published on calendars and greeting cards,20 motifs published as fine art prints.Irene Brandt has been painting since her childhood. As an entirely self-taught painter of naive art she specialized on acrylic paintings since 1996.All her paintings have a colourful and humouristic expression in common as well as a bright and funny mood. The humour behind a painting becomes often even more evident by the interplay between painting and title. Painting means to her playing with colours. She does not want to be fixed to certain subjects. Ideas for new motifs come from her phantasy, some ideas occur again and again: for example clowns, balloons, bubbles, stylized mountains, fish or paper boats.Sometimes the painter uses disproportionate dimensions by which details of the painting are put in the foreground in order to create a funny impression, for example fish as big as the surrounding water, people sitting on big bubbles, or a giant buch of flowers in front of the little florist who binds it.When she looks at a ready painting, she often gets an idea for a new painting that is based on elements of the former one. Irene Brandt especially likes to paint on the frame. Each of these paintings tells a story that is not finished in the painting but is continued on the frame. By the humorous and funny motifs Irene Brandt wants to show a positive view of the world and to produce a smile on the face of the observer.
ACTUALITE
2009
• Les Toiles Polaires, Lavardac, France• Salon Mondial d'Art Naif, Saint-Loubès, France2008• Art Pavilion Cvijeta Zuzoric, Belgrade, Serbia• Salon International d'Art Naif, Auffay, France• Biennale d'Art Naif, Andresy, France• International LM Cartoon Contest, Nanjing City, China• Festival Mondial d'Art Naif, Verneuil sur Avre, France• Galleri Jarsbo, Arhus, Denmark• "L'Eveil de la Nature", Musée International d'Art Naif de Magog, Magog-Quebec, Canada• Rassegna Internazionale di Arte Naive – Premio "Lorenzo Prato", Mandria di Chivasso, Italy• Exposition d'Art Naif, Tonneins, France• Exposition d'Art Naif, Mauvezin, France• Salón Invitación Naif 2008, Fundación Rómulo Raggio, Vicente López-Buenos Aires, Argentina• KARIKATURUM4 – International Forum of Visual Humour, Surgut Fine Arts Museum, Surgut, Russia• Premio Internazionale di Pittura Naif, Varenna, Italy• Salon de la Rentrée 2008, Galerie Thuillier, Paris• Rassegna Internazionale d'Arte Naive, San Lazzaro di Savena, Italy2008 Rassegna Internazionale d'Arte Naive, Crevalcore, Italy• Galleria Raya, Turku, Finland
