Paroles et cætera

Ben Vautier, Joël Ducorroy & Jerôme Considérant ​​

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WORDS IN ART

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In this exhibition, letters, words, language and writing find their way into visual art in a most compelling way, with three artists from different generations, all using the French language in their artwork. Just like Jacques Prévert in his famous Paroles, they base their work on the simple things that surround us, such as anecdotes, slogans and sayings of the everyday life. The title also pays tribute to another great French lyricist, Serge Gainsbourg, with a nod to his provocative song Aux Armes et cætera, set to the tune of La Marseillaise. So now is the time for our three “word artists” to enter the stage and confront or entertain us with their social criticism, derision and humour:
Ben Vautier (1935-2024) is a leading artist of the 20th century. He became famous in the late 1960s for works based on his writings. A member of the post-modern avant-garde, Ben joined the Fluxus movement after meeting George Maciunas. His work is characterised by performances, installations and handwritten inscriptions with provocative or philosophical messages. He developed the notion of appropriation, where “everything is art” and “everything is possible in art”. In 1972, he took part in Documenta 5, where he met Marcel Broodthaers and Joseph Beuys, among others. Ben's sentences can be truths, commentaries, scenarios, invectives... Appearing suddenly in the viewer's field of vision, they often provoke a smile and always give food for thought. His work can be found in major private and public collections around the world.
Joël Ducorroy, born in 1955, lives and works in the Charente region (France). As a collector of words, he plays with art and can be described as a neo-conceptual humorist. He adopted the number plate as a medium in 1981, following a decisive encounter with Gainsbourg. Number plates are the ideal medium for his machine-made creations. They make him a painter without a brush. His work is close to that of Warhol, whom he met in New York in 1987. He adopted the title of "artiste plaquetitien", revisiting painting, sculpture, architecture, photography and engraving to share his world of objects, characters and landscapes. His artistic approach evokes Fluxus, Pop Art and New Realism. His work has been exhibited regularly in France, but it has been too long since it was shown in Brussels. Now this is finally being done, thanks to kind support by Galerie Kahn.
Jérôme Considérant, born in 1977, lives and works in Charleroi (Belgium). He holds a degree in visual communication and graphic design from the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels and initially worked in printing, web design and advertising lettering. Since 2000, he has taken on a series of public commissions and exhibitions. He anticipates the advent of a society that is as absurd as illiterate. Behind each image, with its supposedly simple content, lies a pinch of sarcasm. He is an agitator of ideas and images, in tune with a certain tradition of Belgian surrealism, but his language is subtly universal. His images remind us of the ecological mess, postures of contemporary art, dictatorship of social media, absurdity of over-consumption, and many other themes he keeps in his personal visual encyclopaedia, under the pseudonym Lord of Terils.

Text: Robert Klotz

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