Venice. From 10 May to 20 October, an exhibition at Palazzo Franchetti retraces, in addition to the fundamental seasons of the art of Jean Dubuffet (1901-85), the relationship of the French painter with Venice. Curated by Sophie Webel and Frédéric Jaeger, the show consists in part of the works presented in two previous exhibitions in the Lagoon: in 1964 at Palazzo Grassi and in 1984 at the French Pavilion of the Biennale
In the first of these cases, it was not the result of the Art brut that were exposed, with their references to the spontaneous art of alienated people and children, but the transformations of these sign and deforming presuppositions in the contemplative dimension of the «Texturologies» (1953- 59) and the «Matériologies» (1959-60), in which the surface is uniformly filled with a granular and material substantiality.
But in 1964 Dubuffet also presented that cycle that, with a neologism taken from the French entourlouper (turlupine), he called «L'Hourloupe»: there are about 20 works now on display of this explosion, also environmental, of graphic linearisms and bright colors.
At the 1984 Biennale, Dubuffet presented «Mires», a cycle of paintings in full development at the time (15 on display), in which painting recovers instances of joyful lyrical energy, following the free fluidity of the brushstroke. To complete the itinerary, drawings, gouaches and documents bearing witness to the exhibitions of 1964 and 1984, accompanied by photographs, letters and articles of the time.
May 2019