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This former bridge and pavement engineer, who became an “inventor,” fascinated all the scientists he met. He relentlessly sought to awaken consciences by overstepping the bounds of reason. The plans of his inventions, which he addressed to the highest scientific bodies, such as NASA, the CNRS or the Nobel Committee, are all invitations to reconsider the possibilities of physics, giving us the codes of an elsewhere. The one to whom we have dedicated an important monograph is present today in eminent collections : Mnan-Pompidou Center (France), collection de l’art brut (Swiss), LaM (France), Pinacothèque Hervé Lancelin (Luxembourg) ou Antoine de Galbert (France).

Jean Perdrizet - © christian berst — art brut
Date 1907 — 1975
Country France

Electric Oui-ja, Thermoelectronic ghost net, Cosmonaut robot, Space scale, Imagination cursor, Flying pipe, Variable blade vulture… The names of Perdrizet’s wonderful inventions offer a truly poetic delight while at the same time opening and creating an autonomous and enchanting universe where scientific positivism embraces an unalterated and exalted imagination.

Born in Burgundy to two teachers, Jean Perdrizet spent his unmarried life with his mother. After his baccalaureate, he obtained the diploma of technical assistant for roads and bridges in 1931, but was laid off eight years later for health reasons. He then worked occasionally at Électricité de France and supervised the construction of the Bollène bridge. Around 1955, the Perdrizet family moved to Dignes.

At the age of 24, Perdrizet made the plans for his prodigious inventions. He is as enthusiastic about building robots, ceiling piercing machines, flying saucers and ways to communicate with the dead or aliens. Following the death of his father, he made himself a spiritualist table of incredible lightness to get in touch with him and organized meetings with his neighbors.

Finding a universal language also fascinated him: he invented the “T language” or “sidereal Esperanto” that he said he “spoke fluently”. From time to time, zany buildings appear from his cellar: his flying saucer earns him the admiration of the kids in his neighborhood. Perdrizet calls himself an “inventor” and keeps abreast of the latest scientific advances. Seeking to make his innovations known, he sent “two tons [of plans] in 40 years” to NASA, CNRS, science faculties, the Vatican, UNESCO, the Swedish Academy in the hope of receiving a Nobel Prize… Without result. Nevertheless, several scientists such as José Argémi or Jacques Paillard were interested in his work; the painter and collector Adrien Dax envied his “state of grace”… Perdrizet, an inventor passionate about science, pushes the boundaries of this discipline and transcends it into a sublime airspace where the impossible gives way to the imagination.

When his mother died, he declared: “she did not die, she is elsewhere”, before joining her three days later… If Perdrizet’s constructions did not survive him, his plans and linguistic treatises were preserved by the Musée de Digne-les-Bains and today constitute a major work of art brut, notably exhibited at the LaM in Villeneuve d’Ascq.

Artworks
Please contact us to inquire about the available works.
untitled (Moteur électrique cage), 1973
25.59 x 16.14 in
Machine à dessiner automatique, 1967
25.2 x 19.29 in
Machine a lire (robot lecture), 1953
25.2 x 14.57 in
la géométrie électromécanique, 1971
50.39 x 12.99 in
machine à lire par spectres, 1972
29.53 x 21.65 in
élévation - table traçante, 1973
29.53 x 21.65 in
Catalog
Jean Perdrizet deus ex machina #2
Catalogue published to mark the exhibition *Jean Perdrizet : deus ex machina #2*, christian berst art brut, Paris, 2019. - © christian berst — art brut

Preface : Jean-Gaël Barbara, Manuel Anceau, José Argémi, Marc Décimo
Foreword : Christian Berst
Catalog published to mark the exhibition Jean Perdrizet : deus ex machina #2, from june 7th to july 13th, 2018.

Exhibitions
celestial epics
art brut in the Decharme collection, Villa Médicis. From March 1 to May 19, 2024.
do the write thing :
read between the lines #3, main gallery. From April 2 to May 22, 2022.
Eureka !
Centro de arte Oliva, Portugal. From July 23, 2021 to August 27, 2022.
Death salon 2
curated by Laurent Quénéhen, the bridge by christian berst. From February 13 to March 19, 2021.
Fiac
#47, cancelled. From October 21 to 25, 2020.
View more
Scrivere Disegnando
when the language seeks its other, Centre d'Art Contemporain Genève . From January 29 to August 23, 2020.
drawing now 2019
Carreau du Temple. From March 27 to 30, 2019.
beyond
on the edge of the visible and the invisible, at the gallery. From March 7 to April 13, 2019.
Alphabetum i
Roussel, Brisset, Duchamp, Engineers of the Infra-Thin, Museumkwartier, The Hague. From February 16 to May 19, 2019.
ART BRUT
La Pinacothèque, Luxembourg. From January 26 to June 15, 2019.
L’envol
Maison Rouge, Paris. From June 16 to October 28, 2018.
jean perdrizet
deus ex machina 2, at the gallery. From June 7 to July 13, 2018.
do the write thing 2
read between the lines, at the gallery. From April 26 to June 2, 2018.
Vestiges & Verse
Notes from the Newfangled Epic, American Folk Art Museum, New York. From January 21, 2018 to December 27, 2017.
Les Refuges du récit
Écritures, langues et mondes imaginaires à partir de l’art brut, LaM, Villeneuve d'Ascq. From October 19, 2017 to March 28, 2018.
The Museum of everything
Museum of Old and New Art, Tasmania. From June 17, 2017 to April 2, 2018.
Art Brut
A Story of Individual Mythologies, Treger Saint Silvestre Collection, Portugal. From January 1 to February 26, 2017.
Brut Now
art brut in the technological era, Belfort Museums . From October 29, 2016 to January 16, 2017.
CONNECTED
La Centrale, Bruxelles. From March 24 to August 28, 2016.
The Museum Of Everything
Kunsthal, Rotterdam. From March 5 to May 22, 2016.
Anatomies of the automaton
Panacée à Montpellier & Mamco Genève. From November 21, 2015 to February 28, 2016.
Le Bord des Mondes
Palais de Tokyo, Paris. From February 18 to May 17, 2015.
Art brut
ABCD Collection / Bruno Decharme, la Maison rouge, Paris. From October 17, 2014 to January 18, 2015.
The Wall
Antoine de Galbert Collection , la Maison rouge, Paris. From June 14 to September 21, 2014.
Art brut: breaking the boundaries
curator Christian Berst, Oliva Creative Factory, Sao Joao da Madeira, Portugal. From June 1 to September 11, 2014.
Collecting Madness
Outsider Art from the Damman Collection Volume #2, Prinzhorn Collection, Allemagne . From March 14 to April 14, 2014.
on the horizon
at the gallery. From January 28 to March 1, 2014.
An Alternative Guide to the Universe
Hayward Gallery, Londres. August 28, 2013.
jean perdrizet
deux ex machina, at the gallery. From February 3 to March 10, 2012.
exhibition view of *scrivere disegnando : when language seeks its over*, contemporary art center, genova, switzerland, 2020. - © contemporary art center, genova, christian berst — art brut
exhibition view of *jean perdrizet : deus ex machina#2*, christian berst art brut, paris, 2018. - © christian berst art brut, christian berst — art brut
exhibition view of *Eureka !*, curators : António Saint Silvestre and Richard Treger, Centro de Arte Oliva, Portugal, 2021-2022 - © © Dinis Santos, christian berst — art brut
christian berst art brut booth, *drawing now art fair*, le carreau du temple, paris, from march, 28th to 31st, 2019. - © christian berst art brut, christian berst — art brut
exhibition view of *jean perdrizet : deus ex machina#2*, christian berst art brut, paris, 2018. - © christian berst art brut, christian berst — art brut
Press review
A la Villa Médicis, en Italie, l’art brut s’expose en majesté
Harry Bellet, Le Monde. April 30, 2024.
Un Monde d’art Brut - Par Oriol Malet & Christian Berst - Delcourt/Encrages
DT, ActuBD. August 13, 2022.
Bulles d’art - Un monde d’art brut
Philippe Ducat, Artpress. April 20, 2022.
Un monde d’art brut
Marie Zawisza, Le Journal Des Arts. March 28, 2022.
Oriol Malet: “Me ilusionan los encargos que no sé si sabré hacer”
Francesca Bombi-Vilaseca Barcelona, La Vanguardia. January 4, 2022.
View more
Un monde d’art brut
J. Milette, BDGest. December 20, 2021.
La hotte est pleine !
Léa Cances, Art Hebdo Médias. December 20, 2021.
‘Art brut’, entre la genialidad y la locura
Jordi Canyissà Barcelona, La Vanguardia. December 8, 2021.
Au fil du faire avec Michel Nedjar et cie
Vincent Delaury, Le Journal Des Arts. November 23, 2021.
Un mundo de art brut. Entrevista a Oriol Malet, norma editorial
Mery Cuesta, Norma Editorial. November 22, 2021.
Culture / L’Art brut: un succès non démenti
Yves Tenret, Bon Pour La Tête. November 19, 2021.
Un monde d’Art Brut, une initiation en BD
Laetitia Larralde, Toute La Culture. November 8, 2021.
« Un monde d’art brut » : la fureur de créer
Jonathan Fanara, Le Mag Du Ciné. October 27, 2021.
BD du mois – Se laisser tenter par l’aventure
Charlène Ponzo, Maze. October 27, 2021.
Un vieux monsieur dérangé
Géant Vert, Rock & Folk. October 22, 2021.
un monde d’art brut
Franck Guigue, Planete BD. October 19, 2021.
Berst = Brut
Frédéric Bosser, Les Arts Dessinés. October 12, 2021.
L’art brut adapté en bande dessinée
Natacha Wolinski, The Art Newspaper. October 8, 2021.
Jean Perdrizet
Thomas Bernard, Fluide Glacial. November 1, 2020.
scrivere disegnando. Quand la langue cherche son autre.
Claire Margat, Artpress. May 22, 2020.
jean perdrizet
La Rédaction, Wall Street International. June 19, 2018.
jean perdrizet beyond the imaginable
Alla Chernetska, Raw Vision. May 30, 2018.
de l’art brut art high-tech
Stéphanie Lemoine, L’oeil. January 10, 2017.
avec connected, la centrale retrouve ses racines
Jean-marie Wynants, MAD (Le Soir). July 20, 2016.
O mercado é bruto?
Valdemar Cruz, Expresso. July 16, 2016.
connected
La Rédaction, Www.koregos.org. April 7, 2016.
dix années à turbiner
Michel Verlinden, Focus Vif. March 25, 2016.
Anatomie de l’automate
Patrice Joly, 02 Revue D’art Contemporain. March 1, 2016.
un musée d’art brut ouvre au Portugal
Roxana Azimi, Quotidien De L’art. July 1, 2014.
Jean Perdrizet : illustre inconnu, inventeur, artiste malgré lui.
Benoît Hamon Et Diane Zorzi, Agora. March 2, 2012.
Allô les sélénites ? ici Jean Perdrizet
Philippe Ducat , Echo. March 2, 2012.
L’imaginaire d’un inventeur utopiste
Marie-Odile Monchicourt, France Info. March 1, 2012.
La précision des machines chimériques
Gilbert Lascault, La Quinzaine Littéraire. March 1, 2012.
Jean Perdrizet, deus ex machina
Le Monde - Agenda. February 25, 2012.
article sur jean perdrizet dans parisart
Marie-jeanne Caprasse, PARISArt. February 23, 2012.
jean perdrizet , « savant fou », à l’émission ouvert la nuit
France Inter. February 22, 2012.
Emission La tête au carré : interview de Jean-Gaël Barbara
France Inter. February 16, 2012.
Jean Perdrizet’s fantastic machines
Susan Owensby, RFI International. February 11, 2012.
perdrizet show in télérama sortir
Télérama Sortir. February 2, 2012.
Jean Perdrizet, un inventeur tous azimuts
Animula Vagula. February 1, 2012.
jean perdrizet, nobel de l’art brut on universcience.tv
Roland Gros, Universcience.tv. February 1, 2012.
Les oeuvres de Jean Perdrizet, savant fou, exposées à Paris
Michèle Folian, Tout Pour Les Femmes.com. January 27, 2012.
Collections
LaM, musée d’art moderne, d’art contemporain et d’art brut de Lille Métropole
France
Musée national d’art moderne (Pompidou)
France
collection de l’Art brut
Switzerland
Carmen and Daniel Klein collection
Switzerland
Antoine Frérot collection
France
View more
abcd / Bruno Decharme collection
France
Treger Saint Silvestre collection
Portugal
Antoine de Galbert collection
France
Amr Shaker collection
Switzerland
Emmanuelle and Guy Delcourt collection
France
Hervé Lancelin collection
Luxembourg
Dammann collection
Switzerland
Videos
Brut Now L’art brut au temps des nouvelles technologies
Language French
Jean Perdrizet : science merveilleux et confiture
Language French
Jean Perdrizet

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