Paul Rebeyrolle's Political Fury Gets Multiple 2010 Exhibitions

Paul Rebeyrolle (1926-2005), a French painter whose work channels perpetual revolt against oppression, is the subject of several exhibitions in 2010. Galerie Maeght in Paris shows his graphic works until April 24. Fondation Maeght in Saint-Paul-de-Vence will hang large 1970s paintings this autumn. Claude Bernard, his last dealer, dedicates his entire stand to Rebeyrolle at ArtBrussels (April 23-26). A summer retrospective at Le Bellevue in Biarritz (June 29-October 3), a former casino restructured by Jean-Michel Wilmotte, presents about sixty paintings. Rebeyrolle's oeuvre is marked by political rage: he joined the French Communist Party after WWII but left in 1956 over Hungary and Algeria. His series include "Guérilleros" (1968), "Coexistences" (1970, prefaced by Jean-Paul Sartre), "Prisonniers" (1972, prefaced by Michel Foucault), "Évasions manquées" (1980), "Le Sac de Mme Tellikdjian" (1983), "On dit qu'ils ont la rage" (1984), "Au Royaume des aveugles" (1987), "Panthéons" (1990), "Splendeur de la vérité" (1994), and "Monétarisme" (1999). He uses metaphor and symbol: electric bulbs, open taps, water, and animals like caged dogs. His 1978 "Paysages" series (over five meters high) offers a pantheistic counterpoint to political works. Rebeyrolle was a master of material détournement, embedding real objects (earth, branches, wire, plastic brushes) into his canvases. The article argues his work remains urgent today against all forms of oppression.