Surrealist artist Bernard Rangel is known for his use of bold colors and pleasingly distorted shapes. Thus far, 2016 has proven to be an exciting year for the artist who exhibited at New York's ArtExpo in April and is now scheduled to partake in the Salon of the Art Shopping in Paris at the Carrousel du Louvre from October 21 to 23 via the BresilartFrance booth. Moreover, Bernard has created an hour-long loop and/or series of animated works. Recently, he spoke about his art and his hopes for the future:

AXS: What inspired you to start your video series?

Bernard Rangel (BR): This happened in 1997 when I was living in Brazil. I decided that digitizing my art would create more business opportunities via the internet, as this tool took my work into peoples’ homes, optimizing visual impact. Also, here was an opportunity to sell art without selling the originals. One day when I was thinking of ways to optimize the digital version, I imagined the idea of the gradual appearance of a painting to music. This to me made complete sense, due to the nature of my creative and original style. I looked for a way to bridge the acceptance gap, and simultaneously be unique. I feel a person is more inspired by being included in the evolution of a work, than being challenged by it. At that time, I found no commercially accessible software to execute the idea. Finally, in 2007, with the help of some digital technicians from the Virtual Web website, I produced my first video.

AXS: What was the process of making the video like and how long did it take?

BR: This new video took about seven years to come together. The more I looked at the possibility of executing such a work, the more I saw the obvious challenges that needed solutions. Questions like, what and where would be the best way to exhibit it; what images would be ideal for such a video and, of course, how to cover the financial cost. Like any rough gemstone the more you polish it, the better the gem quality. After moving to London in 2009 I set about painting a new series, titled “Your Imagination”. There are 276 in the work and it took me two years to finish it. In 2015 I found a digital animator on the professional exchange platform Chainy. A year later we got together and I explained what I needed done. The animation work alone took 4 months.

AXS: You are going to exhibit in Paris soon. How did that come about?

BR: In May 2015 I received a text invitation from Bresilart France in Paris, inquiring if I would be interested in participating at the Salon Art Shopping that year. I could not then, as I was already programmed to participate at the New York Art Expo at Pier 94, and HARTEXPO in Barcelona, in 2016, so I decided October in Paris would be good.     

AXS: What new work are you planning for the future?

BR: My next work will be painting my interpretation of the Runes. Since 1987 I have been fascinated with them and in 2004 I painted four large works in oil on canvas. Now I will paint them in Indian ink and acrylic on my unique gold paper. Their duality of being both an alphabet and an oracle intrigues me.    

AXS: What other new events do you have coming up?

BR: As I am always planning on ways to promote Contemporary Tribal Surrealism I think Art Basel in Miami is next. When this will happen I am not sure but it has been at back of my mind for a few years already.   

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To learn more about Bernard and his work, see here and here.