#FLVfromhome : Bertrand Lavier

The collection comprises a constantly evolving body of works that naturally falls into four lines: Contemplative, Pop, Expressionist, Music & Sound. Each week, the Fondation places the spotlight on artists from the Collection. This week, the Fondation invites you to discover Bertrand Lavier. 

After studying horticulture, a subject that has influenced his outlook, at the Ecole Nationale de Versailles, Bertrand Lavier began his artistic career in the early 1970s.

His approach blends the spirit of Duchamp’s readymades with the mass-culture imagery of pop art and the trivial items typical of the New Realism. Lavier transcends traditional categories between painting and sculpture to emphasise hybridisation.

His works, which take the form of objects that are painted, layered, mounted on a plinth, enlarged or simply removed from their original context, are organised into chantiers or “building sites”, as he calls his series, which he deliberately leaves open-ended to allow for the possibility of returning to them. Lavier incorporates everyday objects as well as other art into his work. This blending of genres, principles and materials, typical of Lavier’s artistic practice, produces works that destabilise our perception, creating a visual impact through the blindingly obvious.

Bertrand Lavier explains, interview by Guillaume Durand

interview conducted on September 24th, 2011, 54 min.

French with English subtitles © Fondation Louis Vuitton - 2011