About the artwork
Produced in 2018, Les murs ont la parole is a signed digital print by Jacques Villeglé, a major figure in Nouveau Réalisme. The work is published in an edition of 50 copies, this one being number 29 of 50, and printed on Rives 250 g acid-free cotton paper. It measures 50.50 × 42.50 cm. Faithful to the approach developed by the artist since the 1950s, this work is part of an ongoing reflection on urban language, political memory and the expressive power of graphic signs derived from public space. Using typographic and visual fragments inspired by torn posters, Villeglé presents the word of the street as a raw and direct testimony to his time, where the wall becomes a medium, an archive and a collective voice.
Expert opinion
This late work by Jacques Villeglé testifies to the remarkable coherence of his artistic career. Far from constituting a break with the past, the use of digital printing extends his historic work on torn posters, adapting it to contemporary modes of dissemination. Les murs ont la parole clearly illustrates the permanence of his founding themes: the capture of urban reality, the circulation of political messages and collective visual memory. Accessible by virtue of its format and edition, this work represents a pertinent entry into Villeglé's universe, while retaining a strong conceptual and historical value.
About the artist
Jacques Villeglé's artistic career spans the second half of the twentieth century. It was from 1945, in post-war France, that the artist found his way by collecting torn posters. His practice, deeply rooted in reality and everyday life, brought him into the Nouveaux Réalistes group, led by Pierre Restany. Restany described Villeglé as "a recycler of other people's work, a recycler of urban, industrial and advertising reality". Since his first exhibition at Galerie Colette Allendy in 1957, Villeglé's work has been shown all over the world. In 2008, the Centre Pompidou presented his first national retrospective under the title "La Comédie urbaine".
Additional info
Signed
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