Bertrand Lavier

The work of Bertrand Lavier has parodically and philosophically played the field of post-War art, drawing variously from Pop, Minimalism, various forms of Expressionism, and other canonical styles. His work often draws disparate elements together as admixture—such as painted sculptures—and his typified by his wry formulation, “1 + 1 = 1,” or one element plus another results in one distinct chimera. In Lavier’s 2008 sculpture Metabo, a hedge trimmer partially covered with thick daubs of acrylic paint tilts skyward, its jagged saw tooth blade pointed up menacingly. Such alloys of fine art media expand the Readymade from cultural background noise into support and surface for painting.

Lavier exhibited his work at the Musée d’Orsay in 2008 as part of the museum’s Correspondances series, and has shown widely at other international institutions, including San Diego’s Museum of Contemporary Art, the Centre Georges Pompidou, and the Musée Hermès in Seoul, South Korea.