Lebel, Jean-Jacques: Elisabeth (1962)

collage, paper on fibreboard
Gift of the artist, 1998
Keywords

Jean-Jacques Lebel (b. 1936 in Paris) is a French artist and performer. He spent his younger days in New York, where he belonged to the circle of Marcel Duchamp and André Breton. From 1952 to 1961, he lived in Europe, primarily in Italy. His first journal, Front Unique, was published in Florence. As part of his artistic/political activity, he staged the first European happening L’Enterrement de la Chose de Tinguely with Alain Jouffroy and Jean Tinguely on July 14, 1960 in Venice. Thereafter he frequently organized happenings and performances around the world. From the early 60s he was an ever-more active organizer and initiator of leftist political demonstrations. His collage works often mix features of nouveau réalisme, combine painting, and surrealism. Newspaper cutouts and the integration of advertising materials into grand art are central to his work.