Clément Joseph Bérini (February 21, 1930 – July 21, 1996), Franco-Ontarian born in Timmins, Canada, was a professional visual artist in Ontario,[1] promoter of Northern Ontario art[2] and Franco-Ontarian culture.[3] He stands out among artists of the North because he was recognized early in his artistic career, when he was training in the classical-academic way of painting,[4] and chose to pursue an artistic career in the North.[1]
Clément Bérini | |
|---|---|
 Clément Bérini in Montréal, c. 1955 | |
| Born | February 21, 1930 Timmins, Canada |
| Died | July 21, 1996 (aged 66) |
| Known for |
|
| Awards | Prix du Nouvel-Ontario 1986 |
Biography
editClément Bérini was born on February 21, 1930, and died July 21, 1996. He grew up in Timmins, a mining town and a centre of French-speaking culture in Northern Ontario. In the historical context of that era, under Regulation 17, French was prohibited in schools following third grade. Bérini had to live far away from home, in Ottawa and Montreal, to find higher education in French. Anita Spadafore, professor of art history, writes that
"Clément Bérini chose to pursue a career as an artist in the North, a region where the resources available to him were limited. With considerable effort, he succeeded in producing a work worthy of critical interest and he became a model for other aspiring artists in the North.[1]"
Professor Spadafore adds that Bérini's artistic production took place during a period of cultural and linguistic conflict for Franco-Ontarians.[5] Despite this limitation, Bérini's work has been exhibited in galleries across Ontario, including the nascent circuit of Educational Galleries.[6] His work is present in private collections in Ontario and Québec, and in public places, such as the Regional Hospital in Timmins, or the historical collection of the Ontario Northland Railway in North Bay.[7]
Career
editBérini's work is pictorial and painted in oil, but three-dimensional work is also part of his repertoire, along with religious and public murals, graphic work, and building renovation.[8]
His initial mentor was Alphonse Lespérance, a Montréal painter who specialized in portraiture and still life, trained at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome. Bérini started his artistic training with the techniques of academic painting,[4] and from the 1960s his career engaged with modern art.[1]
In 1950 Bérini travelled to Montréal to begin a formal apprenticeship with Alphonse Lespérance, a highly trained painter and artisan, who started a church restoration and decoration business. Bérini obtained the diploma of craftsman and worked as a foreman on church and building restorations until the early 1960s, when he established himself back in Northern Ontario.[1] Upon his return he taught art and design privately and for Northern College, and produced art and stage works with the local arts organizations, including the Timmins opera and the theatre company directed by Vita and Cecil Linder. In 1963 Conrad Lavigne hired him as artistic director of CFCL-TV, the first Franco-Ontarian TV channel, launched in Timmins.
Bérini took part in Opération Resources, “a vast animation and training program launched in 1971, which will contribute to the training of a whole generation of professional artists present today in a variety of disciplines”, during a period of raising awareness in French-speaking Ontario.[9] In the 1980s Bérini and other artists became very active in the field of educational galleries,[6] to promote the arts and their acquisition in Francophone schools.
Bérini received the Prix du Nouvel-Ontario in 1986 for the quality and cultural impact of his artistic production, in particular his dedication to the Francophone and Northern artistic communities.[2] In 1991 his activities as an artistic organizer led to the founding of BRAVO, the first support organization for Francophone visual artists in Ontario. The same year, Bérini was a member of the working group for a cultural policy for Francophones in Ontario,[3] and contributed to the resulting ministerial report "RSVP! Keys to the future.[5]"
List of exhibitions
editIndividual exhibitions
edit| 1980 | Galerie éducative Thériault | Timmins |
| 1981 | Galerie Paquin, Centre culturel de Kapuskasing | Kapuskasing |
| Galerie éducative Confédération | Welland | |
| Galerie éducative La Citadelle | Cornwall | |
| 1982 | Musée de Timmins : Centre national d'exposition | Timmins |
| La Galeruche, Centre culturel La Ronde | Timmins | |
| Galerie éducative l'Escale | Rockland | |
| Galerie éducative Algonquin | North Bay | |
| 1983 | Galerie 815, Centre des Arts de Hearst | Hearst |
| 1984 | La Galeruche, Centre culturel La Ronde | Timmins |
| 1987 | Collège catholique Samuel-Genest | Ottawa |
| 1989 | Musée de Timmins : Centre national d'exposition | Timmins |
| 1992 | Galerie Emma Ciotti | Iroquois Falls |
Group exhibitions
edit| 1981 | Galerie éducative De La Salle | Ottawa |
| 1982 | Ontario North Now Exhibit, Ontario Place | Toronto |
| 1983 | Galerie Paquin, Centre culturel de Kapuskasing | Kapuskasing |
| 1984 | École secondaire Cité des jeunes | Kapuskasing |
| Galerie Paquin, Centre culturel de Kapuskasing | Kapuskasing | |
| 1985 | École secondaire Louis-Riel | Gloucester |
References
edit- ^ a b c d e Spadafore, Anita L. (2000). Clément Bérini : a spiritual odyssey = une odyssée spirituelle. South Porcupine, ON: Timmins Museum National Exhibition Centre. ISBN 978-0-9697012-1-7. OCLC 1293459239.
- ^ a b Malavoy, Jean (1996). "Hommage à Clément Bérini". Liaison (in French) (89): 10–11. ISSN 0227-227X.
- ^ a b Sylvestre, Paul-François (2006-04-04). "Création d'un groupe de travail pour une politique culturelle". l-express.ca (in Canadian French). Retrieved 2022-05-19.
- ^ a b Flynn, Nore (April 10, 1950). "Talented local painter plans to study in Rome". The Daily Press. Timmins. pp. 15–16.
- ^ a b Grisé, Yolande (1991). RSVP! : keys to the future : final report, September 30, 1991. Working Group for a Cultural Policy for Francophones of Ontario. Toronto: Ministry of Culture and Communications. ISBN 0-7729-9019-0. OCLC 25555425.
- ^ a b Bergeron, Jean-Claude (1981). "La galerie éducative : promotion des arts visuels en Ontario". Liaison (in French) (17): 19–20. ISSN 0227-227X.
- ^ Clément Bérini : honorer, inspirer, rassembler. Toronto (Ontario) Canada: BRAVO-Sud. 2015. ISBN 978-0-9864769-4-5. OCLC 1036109768.
- ^ Spadafore, Anita L. (1988). "Synchromies in Yellow, Blue and Violet - an interview with Clement Berini". Northward Journal - A Quarterly of Northern Arts (45). Kapuskasing: Penumbra Press: 36–39.
- ^ "La « révolution culturelle » en Nouvel-Ontario et le Québec. Opération Ressources et ses conséquences". Érudit. Retrieved 2022-05-20.
External links
edit
- The Virtual Museum of Franco-Ontarian Heritage, during the 400th anniversary of French presence in Ontario, lists Clément Bérini among notable Franco-Ontarians.
- The Bureau des Regroupements des Artistes Visuels de l'Ontario (BRAVO) presents Clément Bérini Archived 2016-12-24 at the Wayback Machine (fr), one of its founders.
- The Clément Bérini Foundation presents a biographical essay, photographs of the artist, and a selection of his work.
- The Centre Culturel La Ronde in Timmins, where Bérini started many of his community arts programs.
- Exhibition at Museum of Visual Arts of French Ontario