Jacques VILLEGLE

Jacques Mahé de La Villeglé (b. Quimper, 1926)

Jacques Villeglé was part of the group of artists that, after 1910, played with public display in a declared manner, with the idea of recycling and reassuming the example of the “dadaists” or Schwitters. He developed a critique of the pictorial model through décollage which, unlike collage, does not add anything to the composition and focuses on creating the invention.
Villeglé discovered that, without the intervention of the artists, urban objects constitute paintings, sculptures and drawings in space. This represented a complete reversal of the values of the 1950s and 1960s, which emphasized the reappropriation of everyday life and objects.

After 1960, this return to everyday reality and real ownership became associated with the “Nouveaux Réalistes” and figures such as Arman, François Dufrêne, Raymond Hains, Yves Klein, Martial Raysse, Jean Tinguely and the critic Pierre Restany.

Villeglé decided to define his approach to appropriation through the use of torn posters. Villeglé operated a photo framing shop, which allowed him to choose the parts of posters that he used, and differentiated the sources of his work from the “Ready-mades” of Duchamp. The posters were torn anonymously by the hands of time, and became traces of civilization: works of art that reflected the natural world, its tensions, its conflicts and its beauty. This appropriation of a radical everyday element allowed Villeglé to capture the zeitgeist, giving his viewers a chance to immerse themselves in space both fictional and poetic. Later, in 1969, he developed his “Cryptogrammes sociopolitiques”, which served to transcribe thoughts or quotes from authors in a socio-politically charged form. Villeglé employed symbols, codes, abbreviations, graffiti and subversive forms of protest in the works.

Since 1957, selected works by Villeglé have been displayed in more than 140 solo exhibitions throughout Europe and the Americas. He has also been featured in various international community events, and his works have been acquired by major museums in Europe and the United States.

Pierre Nixon