So said Jean Dubuffet, the French artist and writer who embraced the low art of the primitive and insane. He rejected traditional standards of beauty in favour of outsider Art Brut - naive and raw work; graffiti-like scrawls, grotesque masks.
The artist deemed great paintings pretentious and believed that the mundane life of the everyday human contained more art and poetry than did academic art. Dubuffet sought a visual language in which everyone could speak, child and adult alike. He wrote at length about this theory - and you could say that his highly academic theses disobey the primitive naivety he instructs.
This Spring, Mayfair's Timothy Taylor gallery mount an exhibition of the artist's late work, from the 1960s 'til his death in the 1980s. The exhibition brings together key examples of painting, sculpture and works on paper, including L’Hourloupe cycle. These were works of the late 1960s: semi-automatic doodles made with ballpoint pen while Dubuffet was talking on the phone, and the longest series in the artist’s career.
There are also significant examples from the Théâtres de mémoire of the 1970s, as well as remarkable works from the Psycho-sites, Mires and Non-lieux series of the 1980s.
Let art intoxiate you this month.
What | Dubuffet: Late Painting, Timothy Taylor |
Where | Timothy Taylor Gallery, 15 Carlos Pl, London, W1K 2EX | MAP |
Nearest tube | Bond Street (underground) |
When |
20 May 16 – 02 Jul 16, Monday by appointment, Tuesday to Friday, 10am – 6pm Saturday 11am – 5pm |
Price | £FREE |
Website | Click here for more information |