The images created by Gérard Gachet capture our attention for the way the artist deals with feminine forms, disarticulating them in erotic yet unusual poses. There is a tendency among laymen to classify this type of work produced by Gérard Gachet as surrealist because it does not rely on the representation of reality as we see it in everyday life. Usually, this happens due to a lack of knowledge about the styles and periods of Art History and how certain procedures, dating back to prehistory, are decisive for the creation of images.
Fig.1. Venus from the cave of Chauvet (28.000 BC)
Fig.2.
Fig.3.
Bison's Head and a Vulva
One of these procedures is montage. For example, in a stalactite from the Chauvet cave in France (Fig.1), it is possible to see an image composed of a bison's head and a vulva. In this way, by elaborating his images from fragmented bodies and integrating them into scenarios strange to them, Gérard Gachet uses this same method as a means to achieve the grotesque.
Fig.4.
Fig.5.
Fig.6.
Unwavering Resistance
Born in Fez (Morocco) on July 18, 1935, Gérard Gachet emerges as a prominent figure in the contemporary art scene, whose personal and creative journey is marked by an incessant search for individual expression and an unwavering resistance to external influences, such as Surrealism. About this movement, he criticizes the fact that Surrealism "codifies its approaches into a methodological system of deregulation" and has created "as a historical school its aesthetic and political obligations". His preference is for artists as diverse as Rembrandt, Goya, Beardsley, and Fuchs (Franz Marc), distant from surrealist symbolism, as they stand out for their simplicity and literality in art.
Fig.7.
Fig.8.
Fig.9.
Distinctive Style
Since his early years, Gachet has shown an innate inclination for the visual arts, beginning his academic training in Fine Arts in Paris and Decorative Arts in Strasbourg. This educational experience would provide the technical and conceptual foundations that would shape his unique and distinctive style later on.
Fig.10.
Fig.11.
In the extended Premium edition you discover more on Gachet's use of montage, relationship to surrealism, his favorite artists and unconventional approach to traditional artistic techniques, his creative process and 49 additional images of his distinctive artworks.
Click HERE for the fascinating ballpoint pen fantasies of Shohei Otomo
