Michel Ragon, born in 1924
27 May - 21 Dec 2015
Journey of a visionary
Curator : Mnam/Cci / Marie-Ange Brayer et Jean-Michel Bouhours
Poet, historian, essayist, novelist and critic of art and architecture, Michel Ragon has been a tireless explorer of new art. After childhood in the Vendée, youth in Nantes brought friendships with artists, anarchist convictions and a commitment to working-class writing. In 1946 the young Ragon published his first critical essay, on Gaston Chaissac. In perpetual search of the original, he unhesitatingly championed CoBrA, Abstract Art, Informal Art, Kinetic Art and Art Brut. In De l’aventure de l’art abstrait and Histoire de l’architecture et de l’urbanisme he offered a distinctive overview of 20th-century art and architecture. On the foundation of the GIAP (Groupe International d’Architecture Prospective) in 1965 he embraced the notion of “realisable utopias” while denouncing the functionalist urban design of the post-war years. Both learned and popular, Michel Ragon is a visionary rooted in his own time whose writings brought art to life.
Marie-Ange Brayer et Jean-Michel Bouhours, in collaboration with Julia Balduini, Nathalie Ernoult, Marion Guibert and Anne-Marie Zuchelli-Charon
Curator : Mnam/Cci / Marie-Ange Brayer et Jean-Michel Bouhours
Poet, historian, essayist, novelist and critic of art and architecture, Michel Ragon has been a tireless explorer of new art. After childhood in the Vendée, youth in Nantes brought friendships with artists, anarchist convictions and a commitment to working-class writing. In 1946 the young Ragon published his first critical essay, on Gaston Chaissac. In perpetual search of the original, he unhesitatingly championed CoBrA, Abstract Art, Informal Art, Kinetic Art and Art Brut. In De l’aventure de l’art abstrait and Histoire de l’architecture et de l’urbanisme he offered a distinctive overview of 20th-century art and architecture. On the foundation of the GIAP (Groupe International d’Architecture Prospective) in 1965 he embraced the notion of “realisable utopias” while denouncing the functionalist urban design of the post-war years. Both learned and popular, Michel Ragon is a visionary rooted in his own time whose writings brought art to life.
Marie-Ange Brayer et Jean-Michel Bouhours, in collaboration with Julia Balduini, Nathalie Ernoult, Marion Guibert and Anne-Marie Zuchelli-Charon