From 11 February to 19 March 2022
Galerie Les Yeux Fertiles, 27 rue de Seine, Paris 6e
Opening on Thursday 10 February 2022, 4 to 9 pm
A panorama of eroticism in the work of the gallery’s contemporary and historical artists from Surrealism and the singular arts.
With Hans Bellmer, Jean Benoît, Pierre Bettencourt, Lucien Coutaud, Lou Dubois, Joaquim Vicens Gironella, Man Ray, Pierre Molinier, Ody Saban, Sir L, Josette Rispal, Virginia Tentindo, Jorge Vigil.
August 1953: Pierre Bettencourt is invited by Jean Dubuffet to the south of France to hunt butterflies. He then makes small portraits with butterfly wings. At that moment, he says, his life would rush off in an entirely new direction. In October and November 1953, having run out of butterflies, he gathers flints and bark in the woods, with which he composes faces and scenes, gluing them onto a plywood ground. This was the start of the fascinating quest of the 388 Hauts Reliefs, which was to end in 1991. Le Divin Marquis, no. 6 in this classification and made of the rawest materials, is therefore a historic work.
Born in Catalonia, Joaquim Vicens Gironella was a cork craftsman with a passion for cork oaks. In France, in Toulouse, from 1941, he carved cork while working in a cork factory. In 1948 Jean Dubuffet discovered his work and organised an exhibition for him at the Foyer de l’Art Brut in Paris. His works are now held in the major public and private collections of Art Brut.
Works shown
- Hans Bellmer, Nu à la feuille, circa 1937, pencil and gouache, 29 x 25 cm
- Pierre Molinier, Hanel Sechs !, original photographic print, 18.5 x 14.5 cm
- Pierre Bettencourt, Le Divin Marquis, 1954
- Pierre Bettencourt, Le Mystère du temps, 1970, high relief, 124 x 175 cm
- Joaquim Vicens Gironella, Désirs, circa 1970, carved cork
- Virginia Tentindo, Eros, gilt bronze, 18.5 x 14.5 cm
- Sir L, Dame-oiselle au lion affolé, 1974, graphite on paper, 21 x 29.7 cm
Artists: Hans Bellmer, Jean Benoît, Pierre Bettencourt, Lucien Coutaud, Lou Dubois, Joaquim Vicens Gironella, Pierre Molinier, Ody Saban, Sir L, Josette Rispal, Virginia Tentindo, Jorge Vigil