Claude

Closky

Studio professor

Subtle, minimal and playful, Claude Closky creates a body of work that plays with all codes and logical systems, whether metrical, mathematical, alphabetical or grammatical. He observes, reclassifies, combines, accumulates, cuts out, assembles, glues, draws and photographs the infraordinary. To add a touch of humour and absurdity to everyday life, he poetically hijacks advertising codes and, with a rebellious streak, turns order on its head. From the simplest drawings - executed with a biro and a sheet of paper - to video, photography, collage, painting and audio media, as well as publishing and websites, he uses a wide range of means to create discrepancies and distort well-oiled mechanisms.

After a brief stint at the Ecole des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, which he left after a year, he co-founded the Ripoulin brothers, who in the 1980s imposed their pictorial diversions on the city's advertising posters. In the 1990s, Claude Closky asserted his own style in a more conceptual vein. His work can be found in private and public collections, and his exhibitions have toured the world. He was awarded the Grand Prix National d'Arts Plastiques in 1999 and the Prix Marcel Duchamp in 2005.

Photo : saywho.fr