Marcotte | Contemporary Artist: Artworks & Biography

Before being a painter and a craftsman of creation and decoration in a peaceful village in the Périgord, Marc Bertin (aka Marcotte) was a chef for over a decade; a field of activity where the artistic sense is as predominant as in painting. Head chef at 18, since getting his BEP (vocational training certificate), the native of Loire-Atlantique has had back-to-back experience (Vendée, Var, etc.), has had amazing encounters with amazing people and puts his heart into his work to satisfy the desires of food connoisseurs. It’s almost natural that he started painting, self-taught, to recreate all his past meetings which have inspired him. “I have always loved art but I knew nothing about it. One day, a close friend of mine died and I needed to escape all my unhappiness. I’ve now been painting for 17 years.” Moreover, his work made from acrylic and construction paint (from his other professional activity) is like his cuisine: rich in emotion. He adds fibres (wool, silk, cotton) and creates buildup which he incorporates into his creations: “Because I was a chef, I never work with a paintbrush, but rather do everything by hand.” Abstraction soon turned out to be new ground for experimentation. The cult of the history of art is of little interest to Marcotte, who prefers that of freedom. “I don’t go to museums.” There is no contempt in his remark. By limiting the weight of cultural awareness, which he deems “inhibiting”, the artist wants to preserve the ingenuity of the gesture of painting and surrender to its urgency…