On The Wire
by Jean-Hubert Martin
For the first time in France, Jean-Hubert Martin - historian of art, heritage officer and curator (Magicians of the Earth (1989), Carambolages (2016), …) has accepted the invitation of two galleries in Paris, christian berst art brut and Jean Brolly gallery to curate an exhibition intiating a fertile dialogue between Art Brut and contemporary art.
The exhibition On the Wire is to discover from Saturday 9 April 2016, at the same time in the two galleries, and will be the object of a catalogue (200 pages) with a text of Jean-Hubert Martin and prefaces written by Jean Brolly and Christian Berst.
Art Brut has entered a new era : formerly followed by enlightened amateurs as rare as they were exclusive, these works, having risen from alterity, are now frequently associated with more predictable artistic productions. But the stakes of including them in the field of licensed art go much further than the questions about how they are shown or the way they are contextualized.
Indeed, the typical dialectic seems to have no hold over these works, which are devoid of any explicit reference to art history. They oblige us, on the contrary, to rethink this history, which, from now on, can no longer be seen as a continuum, but rather as a rhizomatic complex structure. A network where history, cultures, sources and forms no longer interact according to an almost-Darwinian and Western-centric linearity, but a network that forces us to reconsider art as a substantive and metaphysical human fact. A gesture in which the magical and the mysterious transcend the previous partitions and nullify the comfortable bipolarities as well as the deceptive quest for beauty.
By what means, then, should we penetrate and interpret the works, those which are “unthought” by academies, and those which are produced under the tutelary yoke of art history ? Comparison is not reason –it may even be folly – but putting such heteroclitic productions into an entropic dialogue is a path that offers the most exciting perspectives. It was the one chosen by Jean-Hubert Martin – starting with Magicians of the Earth, in 1989, up until Carambolages, today – by looking for the emergence of a hidden sense in the collision and juxtaposition of themes or forms. Also by inviting the observer to take on his own share, his own responsibility, enjoining him to think with his eyes, to stand On the Wire.
artists exhibited : Didier Amblard, Bernard Aubertin, Denise Aubertin, Beverly Baker, Franco Bellucci, Ben, Eric Benetto, Thérèse Bonnelalbay, Marina Bourdoncle, Frédéric Bruly-Bouabré, Misleidys Castillo Pedroso, Rosa Cazhur, Nicolas Chardon, Alan Charlton, Mathieu Cherkit, Jean Claus, Vincent Corpet, Krijn de Koning, John Devlin, Janko Domsic, Eugène Dodeigne, José Manuel Egea, Sebastián Ferreira, Filip Francis, Alexandro Garcia, Paul Armand Gette, Fengyi Guo, Thomas Hirschhorn, Josef Hofer, Xie Hong, Rémy Hysbergue, Myung Ok-Han, Peter Kapeller, John Urho Kemp, Adama Kouyaté, Eugène Leroy, Pierre Molinier, Albert Moser, Michel Nedjar, Marilena Pelosi, Raphaëlle Ricol, Royal Robertson, Patricia Salen, David Scher, Daniel Schlier, Milton Schwartz, Judith Scott, José Johann Seinen, Henry Speller, Harald Stoffers, Benjamin Swaim, Ionel Talpazan, Miroslav Tichý, David Tremlett, Bernard Voïta, August Walla, We are the Painters (Nicolas Beaumelle & Aurélien Porte), Scottie Wilson, Adolf Wölfli, Carlo Zinelli, Zorro.
![portrait de didier amblard - © christian berst — art brut](https://christianberst.com/media/pages/artists/didier-amblard/e77bfb2e78-1608547167/dideramblard-400x.jpg)
![portrait de Beverly Baker - © christian berst — art brut](https://christianberst.com/media/pages/artists/beverly-baker/5312c43553-1608547167/beverly-baker-portrait-400x.jpg)
![Franco Bellucci - © christian berst — art brut](https://christianberst.com/media/pages/artists/franco-bellucci/6aadf71c4c-1700755245/image-8-400x.png)
![portrait of éric benetto - © christian berst — art brut](https://christianberst.com/media/pages/artists/eric-benetto/a6d4cc1c1a-1608547167/portrait-benetto-1-400x.jpg)
![untitled, 1966. indian ink on paper, 9.45 x 12.56 in - © christian berst — art brut](https://christianberst.com/media/pages/artists/therese-bonnelalbay/d313279492-1608547167/bon015-featured-400x.jpg)
![portrait of misleidys castillo pedroso - © christian berst — art brut](https://christianberst.com/media/pages/artists/misleidys-francisca-castillo-pedroso/a52ba47085-1608547167/portrait-misleidys-castillo-pedroso-400x.jpg)
![portrait of Rosa Cazhur - © © christian berst art brut, christian berst — art brut](https://christianberst.com/media/pages/artists/rosa-cazhur/0eb5d64a0f-1608547167/rosa-cazhur-400x.jpg)
![portrait of john devlin - © christian berst — art brut](https://christianberst.com/media/pages/artists/john-devlin/040ceb3795-1608547167/portrait-john-devlin-400x.jpg)
![Janko Domsic - © christian berst — art brut](https://christianberst.com/media/pages/artists/janko-domsic/026dce83ba-1608547167/dom032-400x.jpg)
![Guo Fengyi - © christian berst — art brut](https://christianberst.com/media/pages/artists/guo-fengyi/1db1504b74-1701360123/guo-dessine-1200x-400x.jpg)
![Sebastián Ferreira - © christian berst — art brut](https://christianberst.com/media/pages/artists/sebastian-ferreira/4f3ac579f7-1682613051/img-0439-site-internet-400x.jpg)
![Alexandro Garcia - © christian berst — art brut](https://christianberst.com/media/pages/artists/alexandro-garcia/2acfcb5d33-1666712188/credits-say-who-marilu-parisi-400x.jpg)
![josef hofer drawing - © © florian moser, christian berst — art brut](https://christianberst.com/media/pages/artists/josef-hofer/98333364b0-1608547167/portrait-josef-hofer-c-florian-moser-400x.jpg)
![xie hong - © christian berst — art brut](https://christianberst.com/media/pages/artists/xie-hong/6c9d017d28-1608547167/xie-hong-400x.jpg)
![john urho kemp - © anonymous, christian berst — art brut](https://christianberst.com/media/pages/artists/john-urho-kemp/629eda5e9d-1608547167/kemp-by-anonymous-photographer-400x.jpg)
![Albert Moser - © christian berst — art brut](https://christianberst.com/media/pages/artists/albert-moser/9921a36e8e-1608547167/portrait-albert-moser-400x.jpg)
![Michel Nedjar - © christian berst — art brut](https://christianberst.com/media/pages/artists/michel-nedjar/b2c34fb190-1700665052/capture-d-ecran-2023-11-22-155717-400x.png)
![Marilena Pelosi - © © mario del curto, christian berst — art brut](https://christianberst.com/media/pages/artists/marilena-pelosi/368f8bf594-1608547167/marilena-pelosi-portrait-400x.jpg)
![Royal Robertson - © christian berst — art brut](https://christianberst.com/media/pages/artists/royal-robertson/175d7af349-1711130038/capture-d-ecran-2024-03-20-162800-400x.png)
![patricia salen - © christian berst — art brut](https://christianberst.com/media/pages/artists/patricia-salen/9d229047e2-1608547167/patricia-salen-400x.jpg)
![Milton Schwartz - © christian berst — art brut](https://christianberst.com/media/pages/artists/milton-schwartz/093c538763-1608547167/sch4-001-400x.jpg)
![judith scott huging her artwork. - © christian berst — art brut](https://christianberst.com/media/pages/artists/judith-scott/43f2cc925f-1608547167/scott-judy-hugging-artwork180dpi-400x.jpg)
![portrait of henry speller - © photo: william arnett, 1987, christian berst — art brut](https://christianberst.com/media/pages/artists/henry-speller/7e1cbd21f6-1608547167/henry-speller-400x.jpg)
![harald stoffers - © christian berst — art brut](https://christianberst.com/media/pages/artists/harald-stoffers/7601f1b23e-1608547167/portrait-harald-stoffers-1-400x.jpg)
![ionel talpazan - © christian berst — art brut](https://christianberst.com/media/pages/artists/ionel-talpazan/f92a85aebf-1608547167/talpazan-ny-400x.jpg)
![Miroslav Tichý - © christian berst — art brut](https://christianberst.com/media/pages/artists/miroslav-tichy/ec249288d4-1608547167/tic015-400x.jpg)
![august walla - © mario del curto, christian berst — art brut](https://christianberst.com/media/pages/artists/august-walla/5a21776e05-1608547167/august-walla-c-mario-del-curto-400x.jpg)
![Scottie Louis Freeman Wilson - © christian berst — art brut](https://christianberst.com/media/pages/artists/scottie-wilson/20d291026a-1608547167/wil019-400x.jpg)
![adolf wölfli - © christian berst — art brut](https://christianberst.com/media/pages/artists/adolf-wolfli/9013fafa44-1608547167/adolf-wolfli-portrait-400x.jpg)
![Carlo Zinelli - © christian berst — art brut](https://christianberst.com/media/pages/artists/carlo-zinelli/a4dea23e8f-1720186244/carlo-e-il-cane-400x.jpg)