ART BRUT LIVE – abcd collection | Bruno Decharme

The Bruno Decharme Collection & Photography by Mario Del Curto

When Jean Dubuffet defined art brut in 1949, it was as if he had brought it closer to its demise. The expansion of mass culture, combined with globalization, threatened to silence the spontaneous creativity that had been born outside the defined boundaries of the official culture. But as this exhibition shows, art brut lives!

The exhibition ART BRUT LIVE includes more than 300 predominantly contemporary works of art brut from the abcd collection that French collector Bruno Decharme has been putting together for more than 30 years. His collection, which contains some 3,500 works by 300 artists from all over the world, is one of the most important collections of its kind. Art brut is a form of artistic expression that is inextricably tied to the life of its creators, for whom art is a way of grappling with their existence – of conquering space, taming the body, mastering the mind, or even saving the world. These concepts also form the titles of the imaginary chapters into which the exhibition ART BRUT LIVE has been divided.

Some creators of art brut try to symbolically conquer space, inhabiting it with “anarchitectures”, designing utopian urban projects, and reshaping their own living spaces. An insignificant place is thus transformed into a private temple endowed with new meanings. Other artists try to use the creative act to explore their bodies, to come to terms with traumatic experiences or, conversely, to eternalize moments of pleasure – to create a personal reliquary, a corpus delicti of their own existence. They create magical objects, healing machines, action paintings or works resembling scientific projects. Other artists invite us into their mental spaces. They let us peek into the intimate records, letters, diaries and encoded reports through which they communicate with themselves and their surroundings, but also with things beyond this world. The exhibition reaches its climax when ideas begin to come together in systems that form the seed for new religions and mythologies, or messianic projects for controlling the weather, curing the population or even saving the planet... Art brut is never art for art’s sake – it is a path towards fulfilling a higher calling.

The second part of ART BRUT LIVE presents documentary images and portraits by Swiss photographer Mario Del Curto, who photographs art brut artists in their original environment.

Exhibition curators: Ivana Brádková, Leoš Válka, Terezie Zemánková

Accompanying programme:
28. 3. | 6 pm
Mario Del Curto: Q + A - discussion and three short films by Mario Del Curto
11. 7. - 29. 8. 2015
Summer with DOXie - Saturday's family workshops and traditional summer children' s day at DOX
Sunday guided tours: 12. 4., 26. 4., 24. 5., 21. 6., 19. 7., 2. 8. 2015 | 4 pm

Photos from the exhibtion opening 26 March 2015.

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