LAUSANNE.- The very title of this exhibition seems to run counter to the anonymity valued by the creators of Art Brut: men and women little inclined to seek celebrity. These self-taught persons, for the most part unknown to the public, enjoy depicting movie stars, musicians, singers, athletes and political figures in their works. The fame of such people holds a certain fascination for many producers of Art Brut. Today's widespread "people press" is akin to a collective iconography that has become part and parcel of the visual culture of all sectors of society, including the creators of Art Brut. When Jean Dubuffet first declared Art Brut to be "unscathed by society," he was alluding to culture in an academic and official sense. He would later admit that both cultural virginity and total acculturation are inexistent.

The exhibition presents a gallery of portraits all belonging to the museum holdings. It comprises a great number of celebrities such as Gary Cooper, Marilyn Monroe and Sharon Stone; Elvis Presley and Johnny Hallyday; the French cyclist Bernard Hinault and champions in other categories; or even Abraham Lincoln and Aung San Suu Kyi, together with Prince Charles and Camilla! Frequently, these works are images of images: they have been created by copying from photographs or movies. Nevertheless, the works by such creators are unaffected by the cultural codes governing the reproductions to which they resort. Instead, they adapt fragments representing our society on their own terms, integrating them into a world of their own. They suffer no constraints and can even, at times, handle their subjects rather irreverently. Art Brut creators who attend art workshops use magazine and book illustrations only as a starting point for their work. Indeed, often the identity of the glossy page persons they copy is totally unimportant to them. Revisiting or reinventing such persons in their own highly personal style tends to almost demythologize the figures depicted.

The great creativity that shows through Art Brut works affects all those who view them. David Bowie is one among many of the celebrities to have felt the intensity they convey: "Switzerland also enabled me to discover Art Brut, which made a strong impression on me, on my creative activity. I remember bringing along Brian Eno to the Lausanne museum, and spending hours with him admiring the works on display, thinking about the creative process and the boundaries artists are ready to cross in their quest..."

Exhibition curator: Anic Zanzi, Curator at the Collection de l'Art Brut