Galerie Heyram-Mabel Semler, Paris Briest Scp., Paris, 7 June 2000, lot 36 Galerie Ziegler, Zurich Acquired from the above by the present owner
Exhibited
Cologne, Galerie Reckermann; Zurich, Galerie Ziegler, 50 Jahre Nouveaux Réalistes, 21 April - 13 November 2010, p. 23 (illustrated)
Catalogue Essay
With forcefully rhythmic pulses of vertical actions, Raymond Hains playful process of décollage creates an eminently tactile experience for the viewer. In Tôle the pictorial field simultaneously exposes the raw metal surface and the remnants of the shredded posters, an aesthetic experimented with Hains throughout his practise. Departing from the traditional application of collage, Hains skilfully reversed the customary process of layering planes by alternatively tearing advertising and propaganda posters. From 1949 onwards, Hains redefined and developed this creative process, often collaborating with friend and fellow artist Jacques Villeglé, sourcing torn posters from the streets of Paris. Executed in 1976, the present work is an exquisite example of one of Hains’ trademark vibrant and provocative collages that celebrates the freedom of destruction and reinvention of an urban visual language.
Toying with the picture plane through his progressive experimentations with surface quality, Hains was associated with the Nouveau Réalisme movement, a term coined by art critic Pierre Restany during an exhibition at Galleria Apollinaire in Milan in 1960. Exhibiting alongside Hains' in Milan were artists such as Yves Klein and Jean Tinguely. The movement explored the notion of 'reality,' sourcing material from everyday objects and re-contextualising them, drawing upon Duchampian idealism. For Hains and his practice, this meant finding truth and beauty in the archaeology of deteriorating street advertisement hoardings. After some time the artist distanced himself from the movement to develop his own individual line of research, utilising language and questioning chance and coincidence to reveal the hidden connections between these disparate elements.
The same year in which Tôle was executed, the first retrospective dedicated to Hains’ was held at the National Centre of Art and Culture in Paris. Following this, the Centre Georges Pompidou devoted an important retrospective exhibition to Hains in 2001. The artist’s work remains a poignant and relevant commentary on contemporary society, his work having been selected for the 57th Venice Biennale in 2017. The present work is pivotal in capturing the possibilities of altering the traditional method of collage, creating a platform to examine the underlying beauty which emerges within the remnants of the mundane.
signed, inscribed and dated 'Raymond Hains 1976 1 (diptych)' on the reverse of the right panel signed, inscribed and dated 'R. Hains 2 (diptych)' on the reverse of the left panel torn posters on metal sheet, diptych 160 x 210 cm (63 x 82.625 in.) Executed in 1976.
