Supports/Surfaces

Supports/Surfaces
Years active1966–1972
LocationFrance
Major figures
  • Claude Viallat
  • Daniel Dezeuze
  • Louis Cane
  • Noël Dolla
  • Vincent Bioulès
  • Toni Grand
  • Bernard Pagès
Influences
  • Matisse
  • Greenberg
  • Marx
  • Minimalism
  • Abstract Expresionism

Supports/Surfaces was an art movement in the late 1960s and early 1970s which came out of the south of France.[1][2] It has significantly impacted contemporary art. The group combined a material examination of the formal elements of painting with a rigorous political and philosophical stance.[2]

The group radically re-imagined the place of art in society and formally deconstructed and examined the material components of painting.[3] For these artists, the canvas and stretcher bars (which are traditionally meant to disappear in a work of art) take center stage,[4] expanding and complicating our understanding of the space of painting. Their unique and colorful take on installation was on display at the 2019 retrospective of the group's work at Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD).[2] Their work has been shown all throughout Europe including the Musée d'Art Moderne,[1] and individual artists from the group like Claude Viallat[5] and Toni Grand[6] went on to represent France at the Venice Biennale and have had work placed in the permanent collections of major museums including the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA).[7][8]

  1. ^ a b Ceysson, Bernard (March 24, 2015). Supports / Surfaces. Ceysson Éditions d'Art. ISBN 978-2916373713.
  2. ^ a b c Whitney, Wallace; Brorowy-Reeder; Stella, Rachel (2019). Unfurled Supports/Surfaces. Detroit: Museum of Contemporary art Detroit. ISBN 978-0-9823896-6-9.
  3. ^ Smith, Roberta (2014-07-07). "'Supports/Surfaces' at Canada". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-05-17.
  4. ^ Rubinstein, Raphael. "Theory and Matter." ARTnews, 6 Oct. 2014,.
  5. ^ "Claude Viallat Biography, Artworks & Exhibitions". ocula.com. 2022-05-17. Retrieved 2022-05-17.
  6. ^ Toni Grand, Éditions du Center Georges Pompidou 1986, catalog of the 1986 exhibition.
  7. ^ Toni Grand | MoMA". The Museum of Modern Art. Retrieved 2022-05-04.
  8. ^ "Claude Viallat. Untitled. 1979 | MoMA". The Museum of Modern Art. Retrieved 2022-05-17.