BEN
VAUTIER

Ben Vautier, aka Ben, was born on July 18, 1935, in Naples, Italy. From an Irish and Occitan mother and a French-Swiss father, the artist comes from a culturally rich background. In 1939 the war breaks out. From then, the young Ben and his mother undertake a long journey to Switzerland, Turkey, Egypt, and Italy and finally settle in Nice in 1949, where Ben will live most of his life. After studying at the Imperial Park school and at Stanislas College's boarding school, Ben starts working for the bookshop Le Nain Bleu thanks to the help of his mother, who also buys bookstore-stationery for him. Few years later, Ben sells the store and acquires a second-hand vinyl shop. This atypical space, decorated with objects of all kinds, quickly becomes a meeting place for the artists from the School of Nice, including César, Arman and Martial Raysse meet. Highly influenced by the work of Marcel Duchamp, Ben develops a very personal style in which he challenges the idea of art with the physical object. Basing his theories on the principles of the readymade, Ben declares that the signature is the work of art and start signing everything, even his own daughter. In the 50s, the striking simplicity of his famous "bananas” already announces the precepts defended by the Pop Art star, Andy Warhol. In the 60s, text gradually becomes the main component of Ben’s work and the essence of his artistic approach. His cursive writing and daring messages may be linked to the art movement called Lettrism. Close to the Nouveaux Réalistes (New Realists) group and most noticeably Yves Klein, according to Ben, art is everywhere. It must "be new and bring a shock" to open up to new possibilities. From 1962 to 1970, Ben is an active member of the art group Fluxus alongside John Cage and Al Hansen. In 1965, Ben opens a small exhibition space called "Laboratory 32" in his shop, in which he presents the work of Biga, Alocco, Venet, Maccaferri, Serge III, Sarkis, or Filliou. Emblematic figure on the contemporary art scene, Ben meets Robert Combas, Hervé Di Rosa, Francois Boisrond, Rémi Blanchard and names the Figuration Libre movement in an article published in Flash Art magazine in 1981. Today Ben Vautier's works are displayed in several international collections, including the MoMA in New York, the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney, the Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig in Vienna, MUHKA d Antwerp, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, the Solothurn Museum, the National Museum of Modern Art in Paris, and the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Nice.