Claude VIALLAT

Born in 1936 in Nîmes, France
Lives and works in Nîmes, France

The work of painter Claude Viallat belongs to an aesthetic that was born in the mid-1960s, for which the question of a complete renewal of shapes was not relevant. Starting with a primary shape, then developing and differentiating it, and making it change over time and space, but without abandoning the original configuration: this was the challenge raised by the artist starting in 1966. Claude Viallat’s pieces are formed of colourful imprints, in the shape of a sponge or horned bean, systematically arranged on highly varied media like tarps, tents, screens, umbrellas and, here, cardboard.The artist is more attached to the process that the shape engenders than by the shape itself. And he maintained that single system for four decades of painting. Claude Viallat is an internationally renowned painter. After studying at the Beaux-Arts in Montpellier and then in Paris, he first worked on figurative art in Raymond Legueult’s studio, later turning toward motifs that he would repetitively reproduce on all the media he reclaims. In 1969, he became a founding member of the Supports/Surfaces art group. Made famous for his pieces made of colourful imprints, Claude Viallat exhibits his work at many museums in France and abroad. Over and above the success of his art shows, the artist has also devoted a good portion of his life to teaching at the following art schools: Nice, Limoges, Marseille, Nîmes and lastly at the Beaux-Arts in Paris.