Beyeler Foundation Mounts Major Jean Dubuffet Survey, 'Métamorphoses du paysage'

The Fondation Beyeler in Riehen/Basel presents 'Jean Dubuffet, Métamorphoses du paysage', a major exhibition fifteen years after the Centre Pompidou's 2001 retrospective. The show gathers paintings, sculptures, and collages from the 1940s to the 1980s, with a focus on the 1940s and 1950s. A highlight is 'Gardes du corps' (1943), thought lost for forty years, dedicated to writer Georges Limbour. The exhibition traces Dubuffet's evolution from early figurative works like 'Corps de dames' (1950) to the abstract 'Hourloupe' cycle (1962–1974), culminating in the 'Théâtres de mémoire' and the monumental 'Mire' for the 1984 Venice Biennale. It also features the 'Coucou Bazar' spectacle with sixty stage elements and costumes, animated by dancers twice weekly. Outdoor sculptures include the maquette for 'Jardin d'émail' (Otterlo). The catalogue includes tributes from Georg Baselitz, Keith Haring, David Hockney, Mike Kelley, Claes Oldenburg, Miquel Barceló, and Ugo Rondinone. Dubuffet, who invented Art Brut in 1945, is celebrated for his anticultural stance and use of humble materials (sponge, coal, bark, dead leaves, butterfly wings). The exhibition runs at Fondation Beyeler until May 8, 2016.