The Lone And Level Sands - Preliminary Study Drawing

Richard Berner is an internationally collected artist based in Brighton, UK, working in a variety of medias. He is best known for his distinctive and highly detailed pieces, using inks, fineliner pens and gouache paint. He created visual alchemy by constructing iconic images, often formed of countless figures or 'champs'. Influenced by the Surrealists, Berner draws upon the bizarre and absurd, citing Dali and MC Escher as his biggest inspirations which can be seen in his unique and dream-like pieces. Berner challenges assumptions with a well-honed sense of irony and dark humour. Juxtaposing life and death, Berner invites the viewer to come in closer and devour an endless story of their own within his art. Woven through the intimate and dynamic images are powerful, surreal and very human messages. The champs are surviving and perishing within the same space. Hope and despair go hand in hand. They have been thought of as everything from lost souls to lemmings; Berner considers them all champs.