Jean-Charles Blais

Inspired by the artists of the Nouveau Realisme, Jean-Charles Blais has been intensively grappling with the technique of decollage since the 1980s. Utility objects such as posters are given a new artistic lease of life through their tearing and other mechanical interventions. Of central importance for Blais is the materiality of the picture space, which is made possible by the multi-layered arrangement and the accidental creation of frames and folded structures, which arise in the tearing process. Blais uses the uneven back of the posters rather than the front, which he generally paints with figurative elements. The work of Jean-Charles Blais has been presented in numerous international exhibitions since the 1980s. With the artistic decoration of the Paris Metro station Assemblé Nationale in 1990, Blais became known to a wide international public. Since the turn of the century, the artist has also been interested in digital imagery.