Patrick Gerola

Contemporary Artist · Brussels, 1959 · Based in Japan since 1983.

A RARE TECHNIQUE: AFFRESCO WITH TREE RESIN

The price of a work reflects, in part, what it cost to create — in time, in expertise, in materials.
Patrick Gerola has developed and refined a pictorial technique over decades, at the crossroads of Italian fresco and Japanese traditional painting, Nihonga. His pigments are pure — the same used in Japanese temples and court paintings. Where Japanese tradition binds these pigments with a glue made from shells and bird bones, Gerola mixes them with tree resin — a technical choice that gives his colours exceptional depth, transparency, and luminosity.
This process demands a mastery of seasons, humidity, and heat. Drying must be controlled with warmth — left to dry naturally, the pigment fades. Once properly fixed, the colour becomes permanent and immutable. Each layer must be executed flawlessly; there is no going back.
Working in near-darkness is one of the defining particularities of his studio practice. This counter-intuitive choice allows him to achieve colours of exceptional brilliance on the canvas: the contrast between the obscurity of the work and the radiance of the result is a signature.
All supports are of the high...

AN ELITE FORMATION, AN INTERNATIONAL TRAJECTORY

Patrick Gerola trained at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels, one of Europe’s oldest and most prestigious artistic institutions. He developed the foundations of a rigorous pictorial practice, nurtured from childhood by the presence of a mother who was herself a painter and poet.
Before devoting himself fully to painting, he collaborated as a scenographer with choreographer Micha Van Hoecke at “Mudra,” Maurice Béjart’s ballet school — an experience that sharpened his understanding of movement, light, and space, and has since left an enduring imprint on his work.
In 1983, he moved to Japan. It is there that his career truly flourished — not at the margins of the art world, but at its most institutional heart.

Exhibitions at Major Museums and Art Centres:

◆ Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo (Ueno)

◆ The National Art Center, Tokyo

◆ Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum

◆ Ikeda Museum of 20th Century Art — Retrospective

◆ Mercian Karuizawa Art Museum — Retrospective

◆ The Yunjian Gallery Museum Shanghai, China

◆ Shanghai Art Fair, China

◆ Imperial Villa of Numazu, Japan

◆ Diamond Museum, Province of Antwerp, Belgium (2006–2011)

◆ Belgian Trade Fairs of Osaka and Nagoya, Japan

These institutions do not lend their walls easily. Each invitation is the result of a rigorous selection process and a reputation built over time.