Jacques Clauzel

French painter. Born in Nîmes (France) on the 4th May 1941 he studied art at the renowned art schools of Tourcoing, Montpellier and Paris (the Chastel School). In 1964 he was highly commended in the Prix de Rome and gained a national diploma in Art.

From 1965 to 1973 he spent time firstly working for Ivorian television then as a teacher at the Art School of Abidjan (Ivory Coast). He completed several photo documentaries in Africa (Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Ghana, Togo and Dahomey).

From 1965 to 1968 he experimented with paper, paint and paper-cut artwork but from 1968 he concentrated on photo documentaries. He collected African art which swayed him towards painting.

In 1973 he returned to France and created a workshop for industrial photography. He was recruited by the art school of Montpellier in 1975 to create a photography workshop there. In 1976 he returned to painting via the medium of automated drawing. He then spent a period of research (crumpled paper, torn up and re-glued and other papers). He selected kraft paper as his medium.

From 1985 the main themes which identify his work became visible across his portfolio. At the same time the painter Jacques Clauzel was undertaking different techniques (etching, lithographs, serigraphs and photographs). He also edited artist books from the “A Travers” range.

Jacques Clauzel also collaborated with various French poets like Andrée Chedid, Pierre Dhainaut, Bernard Noël or Michel Butor.