Chris-Ailm Beraet learned to write with a pen and ink at the age of five. He studied Western calligraphy with an uncle when he was around eight years old. At fourteen, he completed a three-year apprenticeship to become a tapestry maker, specializing in sewing.
In the early 1990s, thanks to the artist Anouk, he discovered Chinese writing, which was a revelation for Chris, even though he only studied it for two years with the Chinese calligrapher Ling Hsu. Ten years later, he returned to the study of Chinese writing, also completing his knowledge of contemporary Japanese writing. In the mid-1990s, in the back room of his small shop, he practiced Chinese Xieyi ink painting, which he learned from Ling Hsu (the spontaneous style “Xie” means “to write” and ‘Yi’ means “meaning”).
From his very first steps in painting, Chris-Ailm moved away from representation based on models, retaining mainly an imaginary representation and favoring movement. For Chris-Ailm, this movement of the body is a matrix and a discovery open to the unconscious. At the same time, the gestures of the body are associated with a poetic search for language. He briefly joined Alain Boullet (Professor at the École Nationale d'Art de Nice – Villa Arson from 1973 to 2001) introduced by Erika Daviet-Westphal, and the Poetic Abstraction movement (a contemporary pictorial movement of the late 20th century following on from Lyrical Abstraction) of the dissidents of the Nice School.
In 2009, he met painter Christian Geai, who accepted him into his famous studio on Rue des Ponchettes in Nice. A year later, he obtained a master's degree in mural painting (ancient technique) and trompe l'oeil painting.
At the same time, for five years, he studied at the ÉMAP Villa Thiole in Nice with various artists who taught techniques in art engraving (Sylvie Maurice), contemporary drawing (Anne Pesce), ceramics, and art history (Catherine Macchi).
In 2020, he decided to devote himself mainly to experimental calligraphy, but without losing touch with the pictorial practice that influences and nourishes his art. He continues to experiment with the fusion of writing and body imprinting through lines, strokes, and gestures, which form the basis of his artistic expression, particularly the styles of Far Eastern cursive writing.
In recent years, he has been seeking to develop a new style of calligraphy that synthesizes Latin and Far Eastern (Chinese and Japanese) artistic writing in a contemporary aesthetic. To this end, he studies the writing and spirit of the ancient Chinese masters and the spontaneous styles of Japanese “Zen” writing, which he introduces into his calligraphy, and has begun the process of stylizing our writing.
His “writing paintings” are often described as vigorous, bold, and unrestrained, exploring the terra incognita of figurative deconstruction. The structure of his letter characters and their arrangements reveal a unique contemporary interpretation of free calligraphy. Chris-Ailm's experimental calligraphy merges the discipline of the art of writing with an immanent and expressive dimension.
The Chinese characters he learned long ago are deployed in his new works in a visionary contemporary Latin form and are no longer to be perceived simply as words designating a given thing, but rather as a very personal expression of interiority and liveliness. Lyrical poetry is not far away.
As for Chris-Ailm's daring experiments with his body prints, which he calls “moi-peau” (skin-self), he aims to revive, in the continuity of cave paintings, the spirit of the material presence of the human body in its purest plastic form.
A full-time artist, Chris-Ailm has spent more than 20 years acquiring a basic training that he continues to enrich between two cultures, the traditional Chinese art of writing and the Western art of painting. Today he teaches drawing, painting, engraving, and calligraphy in Vence.
He has participated in over a hundred exhibitions in France and abroad.
© Chris-Ailm Beraet, All rights reserved ADAGP - Paris, 2026
Any reproduction or representation of the works presented on this site must be subject to prior authorization from ADAGP.
https://www.adagp.fr/fr/identities/carte-numerique/827184
In the early 1990s, thanks to the artist Anouk, he discovered Chinese writing, which was a revelation for Chris, even though he only studied it for two years with the Chinese calligrapher Ling Hsu. Ten years later, he returned to the study of Chinese writing, also completing his knowledge of contemporary Japanese writing. In the mid-1990s, in the back room of his small shop, he practiced Chinese Xieyi ink painting, which he learned from Ling Hsu (the spontaneous style “Xie” means “to write” and ‘Yi’ means “meaning”).
From his very first steps in painting, Chris-Ailm moved away from representation based on models, retaining mainly an imaginary representation and favoring movement. For Chris-Ailm, this movement of the body is a matrix and a discovery open to the unconscious. At the same time, the gestures of the body are associated with a poetic search for language. He briefly joined Alain Boullet (Professor at the École Nationale d'Art de Nice – Villa Arson from 1973 to 2001) introduced by Erika Daviet-Westphal, and the Poetic Abstraction movement (a contemporary pictorial movement of the late 20th century following on from Lyrical Abstraction) of the dissidents of the Nice School.
In 2009, he met painter Christian Geai, who accepted him into his famous studio on Rue des Ponchettes in Nice. A year later, he obtained a master's degree in mural painting (ancient technique) and trompe l'oeil painting.
At the same time, for five years, he studied at the ÉMAP Villa Thiole in Nice with various artists who taught techniques in art engraving (Sylvie Maurice), contemporary drawing (Anne Pesce), ceramics, and art history (Catherine Macchi).
In 2020, he decided to devote himself mainly to experimental calligraphy, but without losing touch with the pictorial practice that influences and nourishes his art. He continues to experiment with the fusion of writing and body imprinting through lines, strokes, and gestures, which form the basis of his artistic expression, particularly the styles of Far Eastern cursive writing.
In recent years, he has been seeking to develop a new style of calligraphy that synthesizes Latin and Far Eastern (Chinese and Japanese) artistic writing in a contemporary aesthetic. To this end, he studies the writing and spirit of the ancient Chinese masters and the spontaneous styles of Japanese “Zen” writing, which he introduces into his calligraphy, and has begun the process of stylizing our writing.
His “writing paintings” are often described as vigorous, bold, and unrestrained, exploring the terra incognita of figurative deconstruction. The structure of his letter characters and their arrangements reveal a unique contemporary interpretation of free calligraphy. Chris-Ailm's experimental calligraphy merges the discipline of the art of writing with an immanent and expressive dimension.
The Chinese characters he learned long ago are deployed in his new works in a visionary contemporary Latin form and are no longer to be perceived simply as words designating a given thing, but rather as a very personal expression of interiority and liveliness. Lyrical poetry is not far away.
As for Chris-Ailm's daring experiments with his body prints, which he calls “moi-peau” (skin-self), he aims to revive, in the continuity of cave paintings, the spirit of the material presence of the human body in its purest plastic form.
A full-time artist, Chris-Ailm has spent more than 20 years acquiring a basic training that he continues to enrich between two cultures, the traditional Chinese art of writing and the Western art of painting. Today he teaches drawing, painting, engraving, and calligraphy in Vence.
He has participated in over a hundred exhibitions in France and abroad.
© Chris-Ailm Beraet, All rights reserved ADAGP - Paris, 2026
Any reproduction or representation of the works presented on this site must be subject to prior authorization from ADAGP.
https://www.adagp.fr/fr/identities/carte-numerique/827184