Bruno Arts® | Artist Author | Official Biography

Bruno Arts | Biography | the 2020s

2020 • A surreal year for the planet, but a prolific one for Bruno Arts. Covid-19 overturned the established order throughout the world. Everything was turned upside down, but not the world of Bruno Arts. For him, apart from a few changes in the organisation of his personal life, nothing was shaken in his artistic life. Bruno is working on two new collections of poems to be published in October 2020. Fâmes - the women in his soul: Pascale and his new girlfriend Fouzia - , and NOIR (BLACK) which he signed under the pseudonym of Auguste Noir, an early twentieth-century poet straight from his imagination. Both collections are illustrated entirely by him; the first with drawings, watercolours and vector illustrations produced by computer (CAD); the second, solely with vector images. While Fâmes continues the tribute paid to Pascale, his wife, through the poems in his previous collection of poems PASCALE. As for NOIR, it is an allegory of the colour black and a tribute to Pierre Soulages, whose 100th birthday is in 2020. At the same time, Bruno and his daughter Margot, with the help of their friend William Garcin (violinist), are beginning to transcribe the 44 songs written by Bruno over the years since 1984. At the beginning of October, he and William Garcin recorded the first tracks of a song written in 2018 - Song for Pascale - and Bruno also began writing a twelfth collection of poems.

2021 • The transcriptions are progressing well. On the afternoons of 9th, 11th, 12th, 16th, 18th and 19th February, he locked himself away in Thibaud Guichardan's studio with his daughter Margot and together they recorded the rhythm guitars for seven tracks. On the afternoons of 14th, 15th, 16th, 21st, 22nd, 23rd and 28th April, Margot and Bruno recorded the rhythm guitars for around twenty songs, then on the afternoons of 5th, 12th, 14th and 26th May, they recorded the rhythm guitars for nine more songs.

the 2010s

Bruno Arts | Biography | the 2010s

2010 • Aquarabellesques, a small collection of watercolours and poetry, is published by Arthur'R. Pascal Gallet wrote the preface.
That same year, Bruno Arts wrote poems set to music by Eric Minen from his last 2 albums: Mélodies Urbaines (Urban Melodies) and ElectroMoods. Accompanied by Eric Bailles on bass, they put together a show of poetry, music and photos entitled ElectroMoods. Denis Vidalie, photographer and friend of Bruno Arts, projected live images illustrating the poems and music.
28 novembre 2010, Édouard Guêt (ivoirien vivant à Aix-les-Bains) arrive par hasard chez Bruno Arts. De cette rencontre improbable, naît le groupe √4 (Square root of 4).
Like the Glimmer Twins (Mick Jagger & Keith Richards), Guêt & Bruno Arts write and compose the songs together. Guêt has the lyrics, accompaniment and melody for a dozen tracks in his pocket, while Bruno Arts adds riffs, gimmicks, ritornellos, counterpoints and so on…
A fusion of two cultures, West African and European. Bruno and Guêt are surrounded by experienced, even virtuoso musicians, renowned on the local scene (Eric Bailles - bass, Lionel Boyron - drums/percussion) or nationally (William Garcin - violin).

2011 • From 24th October to 5th November, Bruno Arts, Guêt and their musicians locked themselves away in the studio and recorded Sugar Bonbon, the first release from √4.

2012 • 8th February: official release of Sugar Bonbon. The album received unanimous critical acclaim and was reviewed in the Qualité France section of Rock&Folk magazine (No. 538, June 2012 - pages 114/115).

2014 • On 12th September, Christophe Barbier (Editorial Director of L'Express), accompanied by Pascal Gallet on the piano, performed the complete collection of poems from Aquarabellesques to an audience at the auditorium in Seynod (74).

2015 • On récolte ce qu’on s’Aime, Bruno Arts' 9th collection of poems is published on 8th February by Arthur'R éditions. A beautiful book of paintings and poems, it is, in a way, a retrospective of the outstanding works of Bruno Arts' pictorial work across several periods, including those relating to his digital work.
The poems follow on from the previous collections, from La trilogie verbale d'un enfant de la Terre (The verbal trilogy of a child of the Earth) to Aquarabellesques.
This new book contains over fifty paintings, including the most recent, painted in January 2015, and over fifty poems.
In October, Bruno Arts begins a year-long collaboration with the Parisian art gallery Beauté du Matin Calme located in the Swiss Village. He is also reissuing the Petit Manuel pratique de Ski (Little practical Skiing Manual) of his grandfather COUTTET CHAMPION published in 1932. The edition is enhanced by photos and a tribute text by Roger Frison-Roche.
From 26th October to 25th November 2015, he is exhibiting 5 pewter and acrylics on canvas at the Salon d’Art d’Automne of Aulnay-sous-Bois as part of the 50th anniversary of Franco-Chinese cultural relations. On this occasion, his work L'Homme qui marche sur la Tête (The Man who walks on his head) was selected by the Chinese delegation who came especially for the event. The work will be exhibited for a year in major Chinese cities, starting in Hangzhou, then Shanghai, Beijing and elsewhere…
At the end of the year, Bruno Arts exhibits in Köln, Germany.

2016 • with his friends Eric Bailles and David Mougel, he created the Bruno Arts' Trio an opportunity for him to highlight his poetry through a performance/concert of poetry and music.
26th April, publication of Mon Journal Zen N°1 (My Zen Diary N°1) published by Arthur'R. This new book is more than just a colouring book that could become routine with each passing page. It offers a different inner experience on every page. Through poems, quotations, proverbs, riddles and superb de-stressing mandalas to colour in, it takes the reader on a journey of self-discovery, to the very limits of beauty and harmony.
This year's calendar includes three major exhibitions: Paris, London and New York.

On Sunday 27th November, his wife Pascale tragically disappeared. Amputated of half of himself, collapsed, Bruno Arts crosses this tragedy which upsets his life by turning even more towards spirituality thanks to two books in particular: L'autre côté de la vie (The other side of life) by Philippe Ragueneau and Dialogues avec l'Ange (Dialogues with the Angel) by Gitta Mallasz. It was through reading these two books that he managed to find the strength not to go under for good. He also found support and comfort in throwing himself into writing and pursuing his project Bruno Arts' Trio which, joined by his friend William Garcin, would for a time become the Bruno Arts' Quartet.

2017 • publication of PO:AIME de la première éternité (POEMS from the first eternity), new collection of poems, followed by his complete poetry, his novel and his two shows. From 2017 onwards, with each new collection of poems, Bruno Arts will be trying to give his compatriots a taste for poetry again by delivering his latest poems to customers in the bookshops bookshops where he performs, accompanied by William Garcin and his violin (Bruno Arts' Duo).

2018 • publication of Amstramgram Pic et pic et calligrammes, new poetic opus in homage to Guillaume Apollinaire, whose death in 2018 marked the centenary of the poet's death. With this collection, Bruno Arts revisits the art of the drawn poem (calligram).

2019 • publication of PASCALE, new poetic opus in homage to his wife.

the 2000s

Bruno Arts | Biography | the 2000s

2000 • he co-organised the event Bach Altitude, 4 pianos in the snow, a concert in the snow at Semnoz, at an altitude of 1,704 metres facing Mont Blanc, on 5 March 2000. This crazy gamble was a success. François-René Duchâble, Pascal Gallet, Claire Désert and Marie-Joseph Jude, accompanied by soloists from the Orchestre des Pays de Savoie, played Bach's complete concerti for two, three and four pianos under the direction of Mark Foster with real delight.
In July, Arthur'R éditions published his novel L’instemps, inexacte incertitude, recounting his encounters with Van Gogh and Gauguin. In a highly personal, musical and rhythmic style, he takes us on a dreamlike journey in the company of the greatest artists of the 19th and 20th centuries. It's a hymn to life, friendship and love, a reflection on where we come from? Who are we? Where are we going? It's a daydream that serves as a pretext for talking about death, reincarnation, art, success... In this dream, art history and fiction are intertwined. We wander beyond space and time in the company of Van Gogh, Gauguin, Saint-Exupéry, Picasso or Jacques Higelin, Verlaine, Blaise Cendrars,…
During a lunch in Saint-Marcellin, in the home studio of the Franco-American painter Georges Yatridès, the latter had no knowledge of Bruno Arts' literary work, but was attentive to his way of speaking, and said to him: you should write!
So Georges Yatridès had detected his guest's talents as a storyteller and writer just by listening to him speak!

That same year, he also created a sculpture for France Télécom Pays de Savoie / Isère, of which 6 were produced and given to the winners of a competition organised by France Télécom to improve telephone and internet services for businesses in the Savoie and Isère regions.

2001 • La trilogie verbale d’un enfant de la Terre (The verbal trilogy of a child of the Earth) is published by Arthur'R éditions. With it, he offers us a real moment of emotion, giving us his alternately realistic, surrealist, committed and tender view of the great immutable subjects of literature, in a style that is always very musical and rhythmic. Three collections of poems with a same title, and yet three different titles: Sans Titre (Untitled) - Sang Titre (Blood Title) and Cent Titres (One hundred titles). In French, the three titles are pronounced the same but all have different meanings
Each of the three collections has its own colour. These three books are, in turn, works of art (on top-of-the-range paper, with original binding using nuts and bolts), graphic works (he designed the page layout himself), photographic and pictorial works (a number of his drawings and photos illustrate each volume) and, of course, poetic works. A feast for the eyes, the touch, the heart and the mind. Once again, the reactions were spontaneous, and the trilogy was enthusiastically received.

2002 • his first comic strip: Requi’Aime pour Tango is finally published (Arthur'R éditions).
In this comic book for adults only, he mixes two techniques that he masters perfectly: Indian ink for the drawing and computers for the colouring and composition of the texts. He has also created two new digital paintings, Anthropomorphie Blue in homage to Klein and Trace. His first four digital works mark the beginning of each act in this comic strip.
François-René Duchâble wrote the preface and Pascal Gallet the music. Bruno Arts has chosen 4 pieces of music from his friend's piano repertoire to accompany the reading of the 4 acts of his comic strip, in order to enhance the story and the images.

2003 • To promote his comic book, Bruno Arts is holding a series of book-signing events throughout the year.
At the request of the Montmin town council, Bruno Arts was entrusted with the artistic direction of the first edition of L'Art Pur des Montagnes (9 and 10 August), which he also co-organised. For the occasion, Bruno Arts invited his artist friends from Annecy (Lautrédou, Denis Vidalie, Jean-Marc Favre, William Garcin, Pascal Gallet, Yan Zoritchak and René Broissand). He is taking part in this cultural event by exhibiting his photosculptures alongside Yan Zoritchak's mysterious and cosmic sculptures in the heart of the church of Saint-Maurice de Montmin.
31st December 2003, Bruno Arts left his partners and the communications agency he had set up 6 years earlier to devote himself to his artistic career.

2004 • January, a property development company in the Annecy region commissiones him 10 acrylics on canvas.
February, his poetry enters the school. Françoise Chatel, a teacher at the Saint-Michel public school in Annecy, has included a poem from volume 3 (Cent Titres) of The verbal trilogy of a child of the Earth in the recitation programme for her CM1 class. At the beginning of 2004, he produced seven new digital works with a biblical dimension, The Life - Holy Face - Cathedral - Selfportrait - The Prayer - Corpus Christi and The Death. These are produced with the aim of creating a homogeneous whole in terms of the technique and colours used. They form a Way of Life and thought a kind of spiritual mirror to the Way of the Cross.
2004 was a year packed with exhibitions, book fairs and comic book festivals (including an invitation to exhibit at the Palace de Menthon, at the château de l'Échelle at La Roche-sur-Foron and at the invitation of Pierre Hérisson, Senator for Haute-Savoie and Mayor of Sévrier, to the Prieuré de Sévrier).
On 30th, 31st July and 1st August 2004, he exhibited in Montmin as part of the L'Art Pur des Montagnes art days, for which he was also co-organiser and artistic director. He will be exhibiting his digital paintings and new canvases alongside Kymia, Godefroy Kouassi, Yvon Chiampo (a pupil of Yan Zoritchak) and Joëlle Bonnamy (a pupil of René Broissand).
At the same time, Arthur'R éditions is publishing a brand new collection of some thirty poems Chagrain d’Amour et autres pensées indociles, which he presented and dedicated at the Palace de Menthon.

2005 • several exhibitions are on the calendar. 12 March - His poetry-music show will be premiered at the Palace de Menthon as part of the Printemps des Poètes festival. This show, entitled La vie d'un Enfant de la Terre, is an opportunity for him to explore a new mode of expression. Accompanied by William Garcin on violin, who plays the role of Time, Bruno Arts tells and plays his own poems in the skin of a child of the earth. For the occasion, with the help of his wife and sister, he designed and made his own stage costume. No sooner had he left the stage than offers were pouring in to perform the show again at the Palace de Menthon, in Munich as part of a Franco-German language exchange programme, or in other towns in Haute-Savoie.
At the beginning of the summer, Bruno Arts recorded his first single: 54 seconds for a second-best.

17th September - Bruno Arts becomes a member of the Société des Auteurs Savoyards (SAS). Apart from the founding members of the association, he is the only author to have joined this society of "people of letters" without having the 2 sponsors required for admission. The strength and quality of his writing were enough to override the association's internal rules.
That same year, Bruno Arts experimented with a new technique, painting with molten tin directly on the canvas. He produced his first abstract painting in blue, white and pewter, entitled Tsunami.

2006 • the year begins with a series of paintings on the theme of African masks. This was a research project on the primitive elements present in Negro art. In addition to the pewter that he melts directly onto the canvas, he incorporates numerous materials from nature, the plastics industry and the food industry (shells, packaging, coffee, etc.). The material he creates in 2 dimensions in his digital paintings using graphic tricks, he then materialises in 3 dimensions on his canvases. The boundary between painting and sculpture has become even thinner in his new works.

2007 • still accompanied by his friend William Garcin, he performed his show again The life of a Child of the Earth at the Vendredis de Malaz at Seynod of which he is the artistic director and host. But for the first time, he includes 4 of his own songs, which he performs accompanied by his guitar.

2008 • his show The life of a Child of the Earth is programmed in Alby-sur-Chéran in the magnificent Chapelle Saint-Maurice, where the show will inaugurate the renovation of the venue.

2009 • Bruno Arts writes a new show entitled L’enfant de la Terre et l’Amour. Like the previous, this show is a poetic and musical journey, but this time through the many facets of love (filial love, reciprocal or unrequited love between a man and a woman, friendship, etc.). For this show, Bruno Arts is accompanied on the piano by his friend Pascal Gallet. Bruno Arts once again plays the role of the child, while the piano plays the role of love.

the 90s

Bruno Arts | Biography | the 90s

1990 • After some thought, Bruno Arts decided to set up his own graphic design studio, adopting the name Bruno Arts. From then on, he signed all his artistic works under this pseudonym. Bruno Arts quickly established a good reputation in the Annecy advertising microcosm, and was approached by the director of the Annecy-le-Vieux art school, who asked him to replace his graphics teacher, who was on maternity leave. Bruno Arts accepted and took up the post for 2 school years. Keen to stay at the cutting edge of his profession, Bruno Arts bought a Macintosh and taught himself computer graphics and the use of DTP, illustration and image processing software. That year, he discovered the world of Hugo Pratt with Corto Maltese, and it was a revelation. Pierre Paccard (Paccard bell foundry) commissioned him to create 2 small sculptures in the round to decorate 2 bells ordered by an Italian church.

1992 • | Birth of his son Valentin | With photography more than ever a part of his world as an advertising graphic designer, Bruno Arts invested in a Nikon F4 camera and launched into professional photography to meet the demands of his clients for the production of their advertising documents (leaflets, brochures, catalogues, etc.). To master this medium, which was new to him, he immersed himself in the images of Doisneau, Boubat, Sieff, Cartier-Bresson and Brassaï,…

1994 • on 28th October, Bruno registered the trademark "Bruno Arts" and his logo at the INPI. Bruno Arts is now a registered trademark and its logo is protected. That year saw the first concrete expression of his work, Sans Titre (Untitled), first part of what will be La trilogie verbale d’un Enfant de la Terre (The verbal trilogy of a Child of the Earth) is published by éditions Arthur’R ; this one includes some thirty poems chosen from those written between 1983 and 1994. The book was enthusiastically received. He received spontaneous messages from readers touched by his sensitivity and the quality of his work. During a lunch with François-René Duchâble, the latter confided in him: Sans Titre is my bedside book.

1995 • | Birth of his daughter Margot | Bruno Arts begins the genesis of his comic strip Tango et Cachila, Requi'Aime pour Tango. The outlines of the first characters were drawn. But due to lack of time, they remained in his drawing boxes until 2000.

1996 • he created a new artistic concept, the photosculpture. On 10th May, he presented twelve photosculptures for the first time at Bonlieu (Annecy), as part of the Créations d'Artistes exhibition, alongside artists such as Godefroy Kouassy, Pierre Margara, Robert Ramel, Catherine Zoritchak… On the occasion of this exhibition, Yan Zoritchak, who had come as a spectator, greeted his work by saying: It's strong what you're doing, very strong!
He then exhibited his photosculptures throughout October in Cran-Gevrier and several works were sold. That year, he teamed up with Jean-Marc Favre, an internationally renowned photographer specialising in board sports and extreme sports, and holder of several World Champion titles in his speciality. Their energies crystallised around them and a year later, together with 3 other image and communications professionals, they founded an atypical consultancy in Annecy. As well as providing communications consultancy, the agency offers a full range of in-house graphic design services (an advertising team with an integrated graphic design studio, a web centre, a digitisation, image retouching and flashing workshop, a sheet-fed offset printing facility and an illustration and reportage photo agency with a photo set and cutting-edge digital equipment for the time). Its clients include Salomon, Cartoon Networks, Eider, Michelin-starred restaurateurs and/or "meilleurs ouvriers de France" such as Édouard Loubet (Moulin de Lourmarin - Lubéron), Claude Legras (Auberge de Floris - Switzerland), Emmanuel Renaut (Le Flocon de Sel - Megève), 4/5-star luxury hotels (Village Montana - Tignes - Val Thorens),…

1999 • Bruno Arts is exploring a new way of painting. New developments in Photoshop, Adobe's professional photographic retouching software, opened up new horizons for him, and he created his first digital paintings, Church and Stained-Glass Window.

the 80s

Bruno Arts | Biography | the 80s

1980 • his pictorial universe expanded to include Braque, Picasso, Nolde, Klee, de Chirico, Mondrian, Soutine and Modigliani,…
It was through studying the life of Brancusi that sculpture entered his artistic world.
In the following years, under the influence of his French teacher Mme Feydel, another passion began for him: writing, and more particularly poetry. He devoured Kafka, Orwell and Kerouac, but above all he learned the magic of words and language from Rimbaud, Verlaine, Baudelaire, Apollinaire, Senghor, Cendrars and Prévert,…

1981 • it was at the Gabriel Fauré lycée in Annecy that Bruno Arts met Pascale. They fell in love with each other and their union began on 4th April 1982. Pascale became his wife and has always been an inexhaustible source of inspiration, particularly in his writing.

1983 • he prepared for a Baccalauréat, specialising in economics, which he failed to sit for the first time in June 1984. At the same time, the idea of a poetic trilogy was born in his mind, as well as the writing of a novel in which he would tell the dreamlike story of his meeting with Van Gogh and Gauguin. He is also planning to produce a comic strip and has musical aspirations.

1984 • As he was no longer comfortable with the constraints of school and liked to learn on his own, he again prepared for his BAC B with the Centre National d'Enseignement à Distance (CNED - National Distance Learning Centre) and passed it as an independent candidate in June 1985.
After having read Le manifeste du surréalisme by André Breton, he experimented with automatic writing and then, still passionate about painting, he embarked on a pictorial adventure and produced his first oil painting: Higelin au Casino de Paris. Since then, he has never stopped painting and experimenting with all pictorial techniques (oil, watercolour, gouache, acrylic, pastel, etc.). Many of his works are part of private collections in France and abroad.

1985 • having appreciated distance learning, he decided to prepare a BAC A3, specialising in Plastic Arts, with the CNED, which he passed with distinction as an independent candidate in June 1986. His art teacher sent him a letter of encouragement in which he pointed out his technical virtuosity. His teacher's comments (good painter, good colourist, indisputably gifted student, strong personality) confirm his artistic aspirations.
Always on the lookout, he discovered Bilal's style through La foire aux immortels and La femme piège, and began following the latter's publications.

From 1986 to 1988 • Bruno Arts entered the lycée Emmanuel Mounier in Grenoble in the first year of a BTS in communication and advertising (1986/1987). He then completed the second year by correspondence, again with the CNED, and sat the BTS exam as an independent candidate in June 1988, but was unsuccessful.

1988 • Bruno Arts continued his training as an art director, also by correspondence, with Éducatel, and here again his art teachers appreciated the quality of his work.

1989 • In January, he began a professional career in advertising at the Chambéry agency Gemap as a roughman graphic designer. With the commute from Annecy to Chambery and the hours spent at the agency often well in excess of 39 hours a week, Bruno Arts put his artistic projects on hold. The family life he is in the process of building leaves him little more than time to write. Yet he continues to observe, take notes and store ideas. His employer, who had set up a small publishing house, also asked him to design and lay out forthcoming titles. This is how he came to work with Christian Mogore, then a sports reporter with the Dauphiné Libéré newspaper. Bruno Arts designed and produced the layouts for two books published by Agraf (art and history books): La Grande Histoire des Jeux Olympiques d'Hiver (The Great History of the Olympic Winter Games) and La Grande Histoire du Ski (The Great History of Skiing). Thanks to the quality of its creations and layouts, Gemap won a number of major contracts (in particular, EDF Savoie, DDE Savoie, CCI Savoie, Office du tourisme de la Savoie, etc.) against rival advertising agencies. Bruno Arts felt that his job was that of junior art director and not roughman graphic designer, but having been unable to get his employer to revise his employment contract on this point, Bruno Arts resigned and left Gemap on 31st December 1990.

Arbre et Vitesse | huile sur toile | 1985

the 70s

Bruno Arts | Biography | the 70s

The 1970s were spent between school in Annecy and the Semnoz, where he wouldn't miss the chance to explore the mountains in all directions in the summer, nor a single day of skiing in the winter and this, whatever the weather.
At the age of 12, he was already interested in the different pictorial movements. His first favourites were Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and Albrecht Dürer. He began drawing by exploring different techniques: graphite, charcoal, red chalk, coloured pencil, and made his mark by copying animal drawings, among others.
At the same time, he discovered the worlds of Gotlib and Franquin, produced his first comic strips and developed a taste for music that was very different from that of children his age. He enjoyed listening to Beethoven, Dvorjak, Mozart... or, in a completely different vein, Higelin, Bowie, Pink Floyd, Queen, Joe Cocker, Neil Young, the Doors, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Who or even Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground.
It was at this time, thanks to Paul Colombo, his English teacher at the Collège des Balmettes in Annecy, that he struck his first guitar chords on Graeme Allwright's song Sacrée bouteille. Paul Colombo is a somewhat atypical teacher. He regularly comes to lessons with his guitar and teaches English through songs by Cat Stevens, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez,… A teacher at heart, he has set up a small guitar club at the college, and every Thursday after the canteen and until classes resume at 2pm, he teaches guitar free of charge to any of the school's pupils who want it. All you need to bring is a guitar.
At the same time, Bruno Arts discovered the works, writings and destinies of Vincent Van Gogh and Paul Gauguin, who remain his favourite painters to this day, along with Modigliani. He was also introduced to the world of Impressionism (Monet, Pissarro, Sisley, Degas, Lautrec, Cézanne, etc.) and Fauvism (Matisse, Derain, Vlaminck,…).
Bruno Arts began painting. Initially, he explored watercolours and pastels.