John Berrick has a fascinating story.
Born in Australia, John spent several decades running creative businesses (he was Vice President of Entertainment at Disney for a while!) before ‘retiring’ to the South of France and pouring himself into life as an artist.
There he embraced the majesty of Aquitane, a land fought over by kings for centuries. Powerful rivers bend around mighty castles, streaming into tidal bays, where today winemakers and clam farmers mingle in rustic markets.
John’s work captures all this. Employing a medley of paper, paint and found objects, his multimedia collages feel abstract at first. Until the viewer notices something. It might be a tell-tale patch of birch trees. Or an ancient chateau peeking through the mist. And then we are transported to the most mesmerising region of France with the elegance of a modern tapestry.
John’s work rewards the curious. It bathes the viewer with both atmosphere and detail. With his unique voice, we see his many years of set and stage design, his command of colour and light, and his playful sense of story coming together with grace and panache.