Jean Dubuffet

With his pioneering visual language, not least inspired by children and the mentally ill, Jean Dubuffet (1901–1985) succeeded in disengaging himself from traditions and reinventing art, so to speak. Dubuffet’s influence can also still be felt in contemporary art and Street Art, for example in work by David Hockney, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Keith Haring. The point of departure for this presentation of the artist’s multilayered oeuvre is Dubuffet’s fascinating notion of landscape, which can also change into a body, a face, an object. He experimented with new techniques and materials, such as sand, butterfly wings, sponges, and slag, creating a unique pictorial universe. Besides important paintings and sculptures from all of the artist’s creative phases, the volume also features Dubuffet’s spectacular Coucou Bazar, a synthesis of the arts in which painting, sculpture, theater, dance, and music converge. (German edition ISBN 978-3-7757-4098-2)   Ausstellung/Exhibition: Fondation Beyeler, Riehen/Basel 31.1.–8.4.2016