José Bréval
José Bréval is an artist whose work is rooted in concrete art, grounded in systems and minimalism, and unfolds across various types of mediums. He is distinguished by a rigorous and conceptual approach, where rules and construction processes are essential.
Milestones
Born in 1946, lives and works in Chevreuse, France.
Graduated in electronics engineering and computer science in 1970.
While a student, José Bréval became interested in art after visiting the exhibition dedicated to kinetic art “Lumière et Mouvement” organized by Franck Popper at the Museum of Modern Art of Paris in 1967.
Self-taught, he created his first computer-generated works in 1968: « line networks, » in collaboration with his friend Michel Bugaud, a visual artist.
In 1969, he met François Morellet, one of the major figures in geometric abstraction and a precursor of minimalism, who opened up new creative directions beyond the barriers and constraints of constructivism while remaining true to its initial foundations. José Bréval was influenced by his vision and practice, in which the spirit of Dada, irony, humor, and derision combine with the rigor of systems and their rules.
In 1976, he became a member of the Internationaler Arbeitskreis Für
Konstructive Gestaltung (IAFKG, Working Group for Constructive Art) founded in 1972 in Antwerp by Pierre de Poortere and Hans-Dieter Schrader. He participated in numerous exhibitions and symposiums in Europe with this group until 1986. During this period, he formalized the foundations and principles of his work.
About His Work
José Bréval’s artistic work is based on systems and minimalism, using various types of medium.
Systems are determined by rules and construction processes.
The rules can be mathematical, logical, simple, sometimes approximate, or based on pre-existing data or information such as an alphabet, binary or Roman numbers, a statistical law, or stock market prices. The important thing is that these rules, and only these rules, determine the « meaning » of the work and the parameters of its construction. Chance is also used in some works.
The process defines how the rules are applied to the chosen medium for the elements of a work. Simplification and economy of means are sought here, the result should remain minimalist and clearly illustrate the system.
The choice of medium is made based on the system and to realize the rules in the most evident way: paper, canvas, wooden panels for 2D works but also wood and metals for sculptures, and information technology for multimedia works (sound and light).
The same rules can lead to different, even very different and unexpected results, which José Bréval likes to provoke: this is the case with works playing on « similarity » and « difference ».
Through constant exploration of rules and systems, José Bréval creates works of great conceptual and visual diversity, combining rigor with involuntary poetry.
EXHIBITIONS (SELECTED LIST)
1974 |
Novembre à Vitry, Vitry, FRA |
1975 |
Réalités Nouvelles, Paris, FRA Grands et Jeunes d’Aujourd’hui, Paris, FRA Novembre à Vitry, Vitry, FRA |
1976 |
Réalités Nouvelles, Paris, FRA Grands et Jeunes d’Aujourd’hui, Paris, FRA Contradictions 76, American Center, Paris, FRA |
1977 |
Réalités Nouvelles, Paris, FRA Sul concetto di serie, Museo Civico di Villa Mirabello, Varèse, ITA 2 + 1, Centro Storico, Citta Alta, Bergamo, ITA Galleria di Arte Moderna, Mantova, ITA Galleria Centro del Portello, Genova, ITA |
1978 |
Czwarty wymiar w czworoboku (La quatrième dimension dans un quadrilatère), Galeria Teatru Studio, Warzawa, POL Réalités Nouvelles, Paris, FRA Galerie Beckmann, Hamburg, DEU Maximal – Minimal, Amos Anderson Taidemuseo, Helsinki, FIN Maximal – Minimal, Kemin Taidemuseo, Kemi, FIN Maximal – Minimal, Tampereen Taidemuseo, Tampere, FIN Maximal – Minimal, Konstnärshuset, Stockholm, SWE |
1979 |
Vierte dimension in viereck (La quatrième dimension dans un quadrilatère), Maximal – Minimal, Norrköpings Museum, Norrköping, SWE Lichtbilder, Galerie Beckmann, Hamburg, DEU Maximal – Minimal, Galleri F15, Moss, NOR The Other Child Book, Warsaw Polytechnic, Palais de la Culture et des Sciences, Remont Gallery, Warszawa, POL Maximal – Minimal, Gallery FIM, Reykjavik, ISL Theory and praxis of constructive art today, Schloss Buchberg, Buchberg, AUT Transformacije papira -Transformations on paper, Galerie Motovun, Motovun, HRV Maximal – Minimal, Fyns Stifts Kunstmuseum, Odense, DNK The Other Child Book, Stadsbibliotheek, Maastricht, NLD Artiste et ordinateur, Centre Culturel Suédois, Paris, FRA Microscope 79, Galerie Art et Culture, Paris, FRA International Collection for Laski Children, Galerie Zapiecek, Warsawa, POL |
1980 |
Arbeitskreis – IAFKG, Polytechnic Central of London, London, GBR Cercle Carré Triangle, Hotel d’Escoville – Atelier de Recherche Esthétique, Caen, FRA Dator och Konstnär (Artiste et Ordinateur), Université de Lünd, Lünd, SWE Images, Art et Ordinateur, Palais de la Découverte, Paris, FRA Drawings (Arbeitskreis – IAFKG), House Neuland, Bielefeld, DEU Constructive Art and Architecture, Kunsthaus Hamburg, Hamburg, DEU Dator och Konstnär (Artiste et Ordinateur), Norrköpings Museum, Norrköping, SWE Ein Künstler – Ein Prinzip, Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig – MUMOK, Wien, AUT Bilan de l’Art Contemporain, Centre des Congrès, Québec, CAN Constructive Art and Architecture, Museum Architektury, Wroclaw, POL |
1981 |
TELIC 1981, Constructivism and Geometric Tradition, L’Artiste et l’Ordinateur, Salle Barbusse, Seclin, FRA Ein Künstler – Ein Prinzip, Universitätsbibliothek, Kiel, DEU |
1982 |
Analyse 82, Stadtmuseum, Graz, AUT Ein Künstler – Ein Prinzip, Institut für Kunstgeschichte, Wien, AUT Galleri Ferm, Malmö, SWE |
1983 |
Ein Künstler – Ein Prinzip, De Nieuwe Doelen, Gorinchem, NLD Konzeptz – Strukturen – Konstruktionen, Exakte Tentenzen – Raumkonzepte, Schloss Buchberg, Buchberg, AUT 6 Construction Mouvement, Centre Culturel Français de Belgrade, RSB Art Expo – Young Artists from Europe, Dallas Market Hall, Dallas, USA Electra 83, Musée d’Art Moderne de la ville de Paris, Paris, FRA Nature – Structure – Construction, Kemin Taidemuseo, Kemi, FIN Ein Künstler – Ein Prinzip, Kunstcentrum Limburg, Maastricht, NLD |
1984 |
Constructivist Tendens in Europe, Galerie Konstructiv Tendens, Stockholm, SWE Small is Beautiful, Galeria Zapiecek, Warzawa, POL |
1985 |
Arbeitskreis – IAFKG works, Kunststation, Kleinsassen – Fulda, DEU Arbeitskreis – IAFKG works, Exhibiting Space, London, GBR |
1986 |
Kunstsommer, Kleinsassen – Fulda, DEU |
1987 |
1st PRO-Conference, Foundation PRO, Dordrecht, NLD |
1988 |
Konstruktion und Konzeption, S-Bahnhof Schöneberg, Berlin, DEU |
1989 |
Systematic and Constructive Art, Centro Cultural de la Villa, Madrid, ESP Scjentyzm czy mistyka (Science ou mystique), Muzeum Okregowe, Chelm, POL |
1990 |
Konkret Zehn, Kunsthaus, Nürnberg, DEU |
1992 |
Konkrete Kunst International, Galerie l’IDEE , Zoetermeer, NLD |
1994 |
Konkrete Kunst International – Projekt 30 x 30, Wilhelm-Hack Museum, Ludwigshafen, DEU Concrete Art International – Projekt 30 x 30, Vrije Academie (Free Academy of Visual Art), Den Haag, NLD |
1995 |
Museum’t Coopmanshûs, Franeker, NLD Mondriaanhuis, Museum for Constructive and Concrete Art, Amersfoort, NLD |
1999 |
Concrete Art International – Projekt 30 x 30, Mondriaanhuis, Amersfoort, NLD |
2004 |
Collection SZÖLLŐSI-NAGY – NEMES, MűvészetMalom (Art Mill), Szentendre, HUN |
2008 |
in huis – selectie uit collective, Mondriaanhuis, Amersfoort, NLD |
2024 |
International exhibition of concrete art, Pulchri Studio, Den Haag, NLD |
ONE-MAN EXHIBITIONS
1977 |
Séries – Systèmes, Péniche Alma, Paris Bréval, Morellet, de Poortere, Schrader, Institut Français de Cologne, Koln, DEU Bréval, Morellet, de Poortere, Schrader, Galerie Circulus, Bonn, DEU |
1978 |
Bréval, Esselinck, Atelier de Recherche Esthétique, Université de Caen, Caen, FRA Bréval, Morellet, de Poortere, Schrader, Institut Français de Hanovre, Hannover, DEU |
1979 |
Bréval, Morellet, Esselink, Ridell, Galleri Fern, Malmö, SWE Bréval, Esselinck, Galerie La Cuvée, Lachassagne, FRA |
1980 |
Concept – Système, Galerie la Billebaude, Paris, FRA |
1982 |
Bréval – Esselinck, Institut Français de Graz, Graz, AUT |
1983 |
Centro Internazionale Sperimentazione Arte Visive, Cagliari, ITA Institut Français de Vienne, Wien, AUT |
1992 |
Institut Français de Thessalonique, GRC |
2019 |
En diagonale, Centre d’Art Contemporain, le Prieuré, Chevreuse, FRA |
2025 |
Paintings, Broft Gallery, Leerdam, NLD |
2025 |
Dessine moi une blave – Draw a blave for me, LdM Gallery, Firenze, ITA |