Figuration Libre (, ''Free Figuration'') is a French
art movement
An art movement is a tendency or style in art with a specific art philosophy or goal, followed by a group of artists during a specific period of time, (usually a few months, years or decades) or, at least, with the heyday of the movement defined ...
which began in the 1980s. It is the French equivalent of
Bad Painting and
Neo-expressionism
Neo-expressionism is a style of Late modernism, late modernist or early-Postmodern art, postmodern painting and sculpture that emerged in the late 1970s. Neo-expressionists were sometimes called ''Transavantgarde'', ''Junge Wilde'' or ''Neue Wild ...
in America and Europe,
Junge Wilde in Germany and
Transvanguardia in Italy. Artists in the movement typically incorporate elements of comic book art and graffiti into their work. They use bright colors and exaggerated,
caricature
A caricature is a rendered image showing the features of its subject in a simplified or exaggerated way through sketching, pencil strokes, or other artistic drawings (compare to: cartoon). Caricatures can be either insulting or complimentary, ...
-like figures.
The group was formed in 1981 by
Robert Combas,
Remi Blanchard,
François Boisrond and
Hervé Di Rosa. The term 'Figuration Libre' was coined by
Fluxus
Fluxus was an international, interdisciplinary community of artists, composers, designers, and poets during the 1960s and 1970s who engaged in experimental performance art, art performances which emphasized the artistic process over the finishe ...
artist
Ben Vautier.
Other figures include
Richard Di Rosa and Louis Jammes. Between 1982 and 1985, these artists exhibited alongside their American counterparts
Keith Haring
Keith Allen Haring (May 4, 1958 – February 16, 1990) was an American artist whose pop art emerged from the Graffiti in New York City, New York City graffiti subculture of the 1980s. His animated imagery has "become a widely recognized visual l ...
,
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Jean-Michel Basquiat (; December 22, 1960 – August 12, 1988) was an American artist who rose to success during the 1980s as part of the neo-expressionism movement.
Basquiat first achieved notoriety in the late 1970s as part of the graffiti ...
, and
Kenny Scharf in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
,
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
,
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...
and
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
.
[http://figuration-libre.blogspot.com/ ]
Figuration Libre (Free Figuration) can be translated as "Free Style".
See also
Were sometimes associated with the term ''Free Figuration'' even though they were not present in historical exhibitions: The group
Bazooka
The Bazooka () is a Man-portable anti-tank systems, man-portable recoilless Anti-tank warfare, anti-tank rocket launcher weapon, widely deployed by the United States Army, especially during World War II. Also referred to as the "stovepipe", th ...
, The
Brothers Ripoulin,
Muslims smoking and Francky Boy
Speedy Graphito, MIX-MIX (group), Rafael Gray,
VLP (Vive La Peinture), group
Nuklé-Art, Kriki,
Kim Prisu, Etherno, Captain Cavern, Dix10 Group, established in 1982 (Roma Napoli and JJ Dow Jones),
Didier Chamizo, Placid and Muzo,
Juhel,
Lhopital Sebastian (Sebastian said),
Nina Childress, Frédéric Voisin,
Paella Chimicos, Suburb Suburb,
Daniel Baugeste,
Jérome Mesnager,
Blek le Rat, Zed Poinpoin, Mary Rouffet,
Miss.Tic Gérard Zlotykamien and
Frédéric Iriarte.
References
External links
Figuration Libre France/USA conférenceBad painting and Figuration libre, the 1980s.
{{Authority control
French art movements
1981 in art
Neo-expressionist artists