Rejecting geometric abstraction, Mathieu favored gesture, improvisation, speed and risk-taking from the late 1940s onwards. Confronting his approach to that of the proponents of American Action Painting, particularly Pollock through the technique of dripping, affixing and projecting paint directly from tubes of color, he willingly stages the act of painting before audiences and cameras. This is the case for the monumental calligraphy of his Bataille de Bouvines (1954), lent by the Centre Pompidou to the Historial de Vendée, accompanied by unpublished videos in which the artist explains his pictorial approach. But his work will not be limited to the canvas. Following the example of his ten-franc coin, which circulated in French hands from 1974 to 1987, Mathieu's productions tend to invest the everyday via the applied arts.

Extract from the article by Tea Mignien published in the N°105 de la revue Art Absolument. Publication date: March 17, 2023.

exhibition's website