Michel Batlle, born in 1946 in Toulouse, is of Catalan origin through his father, a refugee from the Spanish Civil War. Coming from a family of artists, he exhibited from the age of 17 in 1963. A pioneer, he invented “Psychophysiography” in 1966, mixing body and mind through engravings on X-rays and vinyl records, becoming a major figure in Body-art in France.
In 1970, he moved on to expressionist figuration, foreshadowing the “free figuration” of the 1980s. He also explored digital art from 1987 with pixelated faces. In 1989, he was the first living artist to exhibit in the former USSR, in kyiv. His work, marked by a profound humanism, evolved towards series such as “Cultural Wars” and a fascination for the face and the body, nourished by his stays in Africa.
Since 2010, he has been creating monumental metal sculptures. For Michel Batlle, a “general artist”, art is a life experience, a questioning and a commitment to respecting differences. Today, Michel Batlle continues his creative work in his studio, continuing to explore the infinite possibilities of matter and space.
Geometric abstraction
Painting on canvas, 125 x 150 cm
Patinated bronze sculpture
Bronze, 2022
The Spider
Monumental steel installation, 2023
Digital Art
Mixed media, 2021
Expressionist portrait
Encre sur papier, 2021
Digital art
Ink on paper, 2021
Mixed media on black background, 2022
Portrait III/LXXI
Woodcut, 2021
Faces in blue
Technique mixte sur fond noir, 2023
Exposition & Acquisition
Augustins Museum – Toulouse, Museum of Modern Art – Belgrade, Midi-Pyrénées Regional Fund, National Fund of Contemporary Art – Paris, Pinacoteca di Capo d’Orlando – Sicily, Museum of Fine Arts – Rodez, kyiv Museum – kyiv – Ukraine, Philbrook Museum – Tulsa – Oklahoma – United States, Sarajevo Museum – Sarajevo – Bosnia and Herzegovina, City of Sérignan, City of Montauban, French Institute of Kyushu – Fukuoka – Japan, Photo Gallery of the Château d’eau – Toulouse, Museum of Olot (Girona) Spain
Exhibition “Michel Batlle, open-air artist” from June 2 to September 30, 2018 at the Château de Laréole, which allows you to discover his metal sculptures and works evoking his work around the face and the body.
Exhibition “Michel Batlle, Faces à Faces”, from June 23 to September 19, 2021 at the Musée des Beaux-Arts Denys-Puech in Rodez presents some of the artist’s sculptures around his “committed questions” since 1966 on the representation of bodies, some of which are exhibited in a public garden near the museum.
Exhibition (paintings and sculptures) by Michel Batlle from May 1 to September 30, 2023 at the Abbaye Sainte-Marie de Valmagne in Villeveyrac.
22, rue Milton
75009 Paris
France
By appointment
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