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Yasuhiro Ishimoto: A bridge between two cultures honoured at LE BAL

le photographe japonais Yasuhiro Ishimoto expose au Le Bal
Kochi Prefecture, Ishimoto Yasuhiro Photo Center

For the first time in Europe, the Japanese photographer Yasuhiro Ishimoto is being celebrated with a major retrospective.

From 19 June to 17 November 2024, Paris will be the scene of an exceptional photographic event with the Yasuhiro Ishimoto exhibition at LE BAL. Organised in collaboration with the Ishimoto Yasuhiro Photo Center at the Museum of Art in Kochi, Japan, the exhibition will highlight an artist who is often overlooked in France and offer European visitors an insight into the work of a key figure in twentieth-century photography.

Born in San Francisco in 1921 to Japanese parents, Ishimoto grew up in Japan before returning to the United States, where he was interned during the Second World War because of his origins. After his release, he joined the Institute of Design in Chicago, a centre influenced by the ideals of the Bauhaus. It was here that Ishimoto forged his photographic eye, combining formal rigour with aesthetic sensitivity.

The exhibition features 169 vintage prints that take visitors on a journey through the artist’s early decades between Chicago and Japan. Visitors will discover how Ishimoto, described by American photographer Minor White as ‘visually bilingual’, fused the formal approaches of the New Bauhaus with the nuances of Japanese aesthetics.

According to Ikko Tanaka, a renowned graphic designer, Ishimoto represents an “intellectual and rigorous modernism” that has influenced many artists. His photographs, often compared to the sculptures of Brancusi, show a profound reflection on form, space and light, reflecting both his Japanese roots and his Western upbringing.

In addition to his aesthetic contributions, Ishimoto also pioneered the publication of photography books, with seminal works such as ‘Someday, Somewhere’ (1958), which redefined the genre. These books are also included in the exhibition, demonstrating his desire to push back the boundaries of the photographic medium.

As well as celebrating Ishimoto’s work, the exhibition at LE BAL invites us to reflect on the interactions between culture, identity and artistic expression. It raises questions about the impact of cultural background and life experience on artistic creation, and offers visitors an opportunity to reflect on how art can serve as a bridge between cultures.

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News - Painting

Sylvie Dubal : Apocalypse and hope at the CAC in Perpignan

Sylvie Dubal Centre d'art contemporain de Perpignan

The City of Perpignan’s Department of Culture is pleased to announce a fascinating new exhibition of works by Swiss artist Sylvie Dubal. Known for her distinctive style of anticipatory painting, Dubal offers a profound reflection on the human condition and the threats of modernity through a series of works that will leave no one indifferent.

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News

Benjamin Vautier, alias Ben, has died : an inimitable artist has left us

Mort de Benjamin Vautier
wikipedia

The world of contemporary art is in mourning. Benjamin Vautier, better known as Ben, died on Wednesday at his home in Saint-Pancrace, near Nice, at the age of 88. His death came just hours after that of his wife, Annie Vautier. According to an official statement from his family, the artist took his own life because he could not imagine life without her.

An instantly recognisable style

Ben was best known for his childlike calligraphy in white letters on a black background. These clear, unique inscriptions had become his signature, an instantly recognisable logo. For over fifty years, words have been at the heart of his work, combining concept and popularity, history and current events.

A rich and varied artistic career

Born in Switzerland on 18 July 1935, Ben began his artistic career in a bookshop and stationery shop in Nice, which his mother had bought to encourage him to find a career. He quickly transformed the shop into an exhibition and meeting place for the young avant-garde artists of Nice. Le Laboratoire 32, which became the Ben Doute de Tout Gallery, became an emblematic space for contemporary art.

In 1975, his work entered the collections of the Musée National d’Art Moderne in Paris, confirming his influence and talent.

Art and life, an inseparable unity

For Ben, art could never be separated from life. His house in Saint-Pancrace, known as ‘Chez Malabar et Cunégonde’, was a place where he lived, created and discussed his art. Filled with works, archives and salvaged objects, it is now the Fondation du doute, a living tribute to Ben’s philosophy of limitless artistic proliferation, where the subsistence economy of salvage and barter replaces the capitalist art market.

A key figure in the Fluxus movement

In the late 1950s, Ben met Arman, Yves Klein and other Nouveau Réalisme artists. These meetings had a profound influence on his work. In 1962 he attended the Festival of Misfits in London, where he met George Maciunas, the founder of the Fluxus movement. The following year, Ben organised a series of Fluxus events in Nice, marking the arrival of the movement in France.

His travels, notably to New York in 1964, strengthened his connection with Fluxus, and he never ceased to carry its message while cultivating his own singularity.

Conceptual and activist art

Ben used simple gestures to create powerful works of art. His calligraphic statements, often provocative and humorous, engage the public in dialogue, provoking reaction and debate. He plays with contradictions, asserting the inseparability of art and life.

His works, whether signed objects or performances, aim to change our perception of the world, not by adding new objects, but by reinterpreting those that already exist.

The legacy of an unforgettable artist

Ben’s death leaves a huge void in the art world. His work, characterised by a relentless search for truth and a constant questioning of the art world, will continue to inspire and provoke. His unique approach, combining simplicity and depth, reached a wide audience and made art accessible to all.

Benjamin Vautier, aka Ben, was more than an artist: he was a philosopher of art, a gentle provocateur and an essential figure in contemporary art. His legacy will live on, reminding us of the importance of innovation, diversity and the integration of art into all aspects of life.