If Martial Raysse is asked what led him to become an artist, his taste for language and poetic feeling becomes immediately obvious. Why did he choose literature, then abandon that path for a career as a self-taught artist? Because painting is a universal language. Because the call of life expressed itself more powerfully in the realm of painting.
Though over two hundred works - paintings sculptures, films, photographs and drawings, the Centre Pompidou is devoting a completely new retrospective to the work of this visionary artist, on the margin of dominant artistic trends, who has followed his unpredictable, singular path throughout nearly 50 years of creation. He says nothing about his bent for art, except that it expressed itself early on, very naturally. Nice was then the spawning ground for a new generation of artists, and he rapidly joined them. Ben, Arman and Yves Klein stood out with work that made a complete break with the informal abstraction of the post-war period. From the Marseille born César, he borrowed the practice of combining scrap elements, which he transformed into airy works inspired by Calder. Curator : Mnam/Cci, Catherine Grenier
