Jean Dubuffet: L’Hourloupe et son sillage (1962–1982)

Opera Gallery Paris

16 October - 12 November 2025

Opera Gallery Paris is proud to present ‘Jean Dubuffet: L’Hourloupe et son sillage (1962–1982)’, a landmark exhibition dedicated to one of the most influential figures of 20th-century art. Coinciding with Paris Art Week 2025 and marking the 40th anniversary of Dubuffet’s passing, the show explores the genesis, peak, and legacy of Dubuffet’s radical L’Hourloupe cycle and its lasting impact on modern and contemporary art.

The L’Hourloupe Cycle

In July 1962, during a casual phone conversation, Jean Dubuffet began doodling with a ballpoint pen. From this seemingly trivial gesture emerged L’Hourloupe, a groundbreaking visual system that would occupy him for over a decade (1962–1974). Characterised by red and blue flat tones, white voids, and thick black outlines, this distinctive graphic language deconstructed reality to construct an alternate universe of cellular forms, ambiguous figures, and dreamlike landscapes.

More than a series, L’Hourloupe expanded across painting, sculpture, performance, literature, and even architecture. Its culmination came with Coucou Bazar (1971–1974), Dubuffet’s celebrated “animated painting” that merged painting, costume, choreography, and sound into an immersive total artwork.

From L’Hourloupe to Its Legacy (1962–1982)

The exhibition presents works spanning 20 years, tracing the metamorphosis of L’Hourloupe into subsequent series including Coucou Bazar, Sites tricolores, Théâtres de mémoire, Psycho-sites, and Sites aléatoires. Highlights include Échec à l’être (1971), a monumental painted cutout from Coucou Bazar, first performed at the Guggenheim Museum in 1973, and Site au Défunt (1982) – a collage from the Sites aléatoires, where figures and landscapes merge into chance-driven, emotionally charged compositions.

Together, these works demonstrate how Dubuffet’s language evolved while remaining rooted in his quest to liberate art from convention and create a universal form of expression.

Jean Dubuffet: A Visionary of Post-War Art

Born in Le Havre in 1901, Jean Dubuffet is celebrated as the founder of Art Brut. Rejecting academic traditions, he embraced raw, unrefined materials and drew inspiration from outsider art, children, and psychiatric patients. His radical experimentation influenced generations of artists and continues to resonate in today’s contemporary practices.