Claude Viallat

The work

Untitled No. 301
2007
212 x 65 cm
Acrylic on curtain

From 1963 to the present, Viallat has used as his sole subject a simple form he created, which he has repeated over the years.
It is what we might describe as a “soft,” slightly sloping rectangle, the protagonist here, in blue with a white border, but also tirelessly in each and every one of them.
With this decision, he sought to abandon the search for forms endowed with “meaning.”
The traditional fabric support also disappears. He fixes the peculiar rectangle on all kinds of “found” supports: sheets, tarps, umbrellas, dresses, carpets, depending on the chance of the discoveries.
Since 1966, the canvas has hung freely, without a frame, not only on the wall but also on ceilings or any surface or space.
In Viallat’s work, which is part of the collection, the artist repeats the same form, in this case on a reclaimed curtain piece, as Viallat always uses reclaimed materials. The work has no frame and hangs directly from the wall without tension.

The artist

(Nimes, 1936)

Viallat cultivates a simple and unique, almost rudimentary composition, thus rediscovering the ascetic economy of the principles of primitive decoration. At the same time, he confronts two overlapping perceptions: that of form, Viallat’s hallmark, with those of the colors and textures of the cloth he has chosen to support it.
Viallat and the artists of the Support/Surface movement, to which Viallat adhered, aim to make the viewer aware of aspects that, as part of the work, are generally overlooked. It’s about giving prominence, in a naked form, to any of the elements that constitute the pictorial act.
Support/Surface was born between 1966 and 1969, within the experimental framework of the 1960s. Its members, including Viallat but also Daniel Dezeuze and Daniel Buraglio, of whom the Foundation is honored to have a work from each, placed equal importance on materials and gestures as on subject matter.
Viallat himself says: Dezeuze paints stretchers without canvas, and I paint canvases without stretchers.