Jean Dubuffet was one of the most radical renewers of art in the immediate postwar period. His work represented a transgressive, wilfully anti-cultural agenda, posited as an alternative to the established concepts of art. A talented artist in several disciplines, Dubuffet wanted to rekindle spontaneity and immediacy in art, so that it would again relate directly to real life and unsparingly reflect the true feelings of the artist.

Social conventions, the academic role models of the past, and the rules of good taste had to be shed in the quest for uncompromising authenticity. In their place, Dubuffet focused on experiences that originated outside the boundaries of the accepted art world. He saw artistic value in children’s drawings, random doodles, graffiti in public spaces, as well as works by prisoners and mentally ill patients. Dubuffet collected such works as a source of inspiration for his own art. For him, these works were the expression of a genuine, alternative form of art, which he termed 'Art Brut’ - or 'raw art’. The 'brutal’ aesthetics of this visual art form continue to have an immediacy and the power to provoke.

The exhibition presents Jean Dubuffet and his concept of Art Brut, as seen in his impressive artist’s books, which are of equal importance in his overall oeuvre as the paintings, drawings, and sculptures. 

Venue: Kunstbibliothek gallery and upper foyer