Claude Viallat is at home in Nîmes. He was born in this city eighty-seven years ago. He returned there for several decades and directed the School of Fine Arts. He is a personality appreciated by the people of Nîmes, in particular for having contributed decisively to the creation of a Museum of bullfighting cultures. His studio is in the center of the city, a few hundred meters from the Carré d’art, where a vast exhibition of his recent works has just begun.
A form borrowed from building painters
There is a paradox. This man is one of the greatest figures of abstract art in France. Which obviously does not refer to the idea of being rooted in a local culture. And yet, all his work is imbued with Mediterranean spirit. For example, it is from this tradition that the bean-shaped or rather knuckle-shaped pattern comes that he tirelessly reproduces with stencils on all kinds of fabrics.
Gilles Aillaud, painter of ultramodern solitude at the Center Pompidou
This technique was inspired by the way house painters once decorated kitchens in the south of France. They whitewashed the walls, then dipped sponges or fabrics in blue or pink lime and regularly dabbed the walls, creating a sort of wallpaper. The form used by Claude Viallat, “any form” in his own words, was born from a sponge he used, corroded by bleach.
A colorist in love with the art of Matisse
The repetitive research carried out by the artist brilliantly wards off the risk of boredom. The spectator can first have fun detailing the bric-a-brac of the supports used. Claude Viallat paints and assembles fabrics of all kinds: military tarpaulins, tent or parasol canvases, old tablecloths, printed cretonnes, corduroys… And then, and above all, there is the genius of color that this dignified man possesses. heir to Matisse of whom he is a great admirer. His goal, he says in his Southern accent, is to “make something tasty”.
We also like its simplicity, this way of tinkering without talking about it. The curator of the exhibition at the Carré d’art, Matthieu Léglise, thought that the hanging would take a very long time. The matter was resolved in a few days, Claude Viallat stapling his paintings on the walls of the museum, while continuing to work in his workshop. The most recent work in the exhibition was created three days before the opening.
His other work dedicated to bulls
The work of Claude Viallat is not, however, limited to the painting of “any forms”. The exhibition also allows you to discover his work dedicated to bulls – which interests him much more than bullfighting. Along the way, we admire the figurative mastery of this abstract artist. Finally there are his sculptures, or rather the objects, that he makes. He describes them as“archaeo-futuristic”. Again, lots of recycled materials. Driftwood, wooden frames, nets, ropes, trimmings. A poor, almost primitive art.
At the Vuitton Foundation, the colorful abysses of Mark Rothko
Claude Viallat’s work, since the 1960s, is in short a search for origins. It is linked to cave art, these paintings made by prehistoric men on the walls of caves. The original painters often traced the outline of their hand there. There is, in a corner of the Carré d’art, a simple wooden crate where Viallat has done the same with yellow paint. Like a signature.
2023-11-05 08:28:54
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