The Centre Pompidou has organized an exhibition at the Hôtel de la Monnaie dedicated to Georges Mathieu (1921-2012), the founder of lyrical abstraction, entitled "Geste, vitesse, mouvement". The exhibition is divided into eight chrono-thematic sections.
Fascinated by the theoretical and philosophical issues of informal art, and by the artists he encounters in Paris, Mathieu promotes what he himself calls lyrical abstraction. In the 1950s, he begins painting his first tachist works.
For him, the spontaneity of the gesture is essential. He acts with swift movements to imprint emotions without letting them be filtered through rationality. He often paints in public, a precursor to performance art.
Many of his works, such as Le Bataille de Bouvines, refer to historical events in France: thus, he gives a new form to historical painting.
Curated by Christian Briend, Béatrice Coullaré, Éric de Chassey.
Until September 7th.
