Philippe Decrauzat &
Jean-Luc Manz
Prix Buchet 2010

On the occasion of the double prize awarded by the Fondation Gustave Buchet to Philippe Decrauzat (*1974) and Jean-Luc Manz (*1952), the Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts de Lausanne has invited both artists to take over the entire museum for a unique exhibition.

Active for more than twenty years in French-speaking Switzerland, Jean-Luc Manz has developed a pictorial practice in constant dialogue with the pioneers of abstraction, whether his predecessors or contemporaries. While many of his compositions unfold in series and stem from experimentation with specific forms (checkerboards or other geometric figures), others draw direct inspiration from found objects—be it the pattern of an Egyptian carpet, motifs borrowed from other artists, details from a garment, or the memory of a person. This allusive relationship with reality is emphasized by the titles—Mes années 50, Pleurs de cendre, etc.—while primary colors form the foundational palette around which his entire body of work is structured, with occasional forays into the absolute chromatic reduction of black and white.

For Philippe Decrauzat, the black-and-white universe refers not only to the history of abstract art but also to Op Art and, by extension, to the history of cinema itself. His paintings, murals, sculptures, installations, and films are infused with references borrowed from fine art, experimental cinema, popular culture, and music. Yet, while Decrauzat’s work revisits questions of vision, perception, and movement dear to 20th-century avant-gardes, it does not merely assemble citations. Instead, it offers a masterful reformulation of these concerns within the space of installation.

To accompany this exhibition, the museum has published a monograph dedicated to the work of Jean-Luc Manz.