Exhibition on view 17 May – 22 August 2021 [Sponsored by Sothebys]
The first major UK exhibition of the work of French artist Jean Dubuffet (1901 -1985) opens at Barbican Art Gallery in May 2021. He has not exhibited in over 50 years. Dubuffet is one of the most provocative voices in postwar modern art. He rebelled against conventional ideas of beauty, hoping to capture the poetry of everyday life in the gritty, more authentic way. Brutal Beauty has been drawn from international public and private collections. The exhibition brings together more than 150 works from early portraits. There are lithographs, fantastical statues and enamel paintings as well. Additional works include butterfly assemblages and giant colourful canvases. Get Directions to the Barbican here.
Images: Left : Jean Dubuffet in Paris, France, 1972. Photograph by Francis Chaverou © Archives Fondation Dubuffet, Paris / © Francis Chaverou Right : Jean Dubuffet, The Extravagant One (L’Extravagante) July 1954, Private Collection © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2020. Photograph by Joseph Coscia Jr, courtesy Pace Gallery.