jacques basler was born in 1942, in lausanne, switzerland

as a sculptor, he lives and works in his studio in rue, switzerland (fribourg), and in filicudi island / sicily, italy

many solo and group exhibitions have presented his works.

jacques basler, or the fervor of the authenticity

interview with street (switzerland), may 6, 2008 by jef gianadda

I wanted to ask you what is art. this question, the american philosopher nelson goodman had substituted the question: "when there is art?" according to you?

I would talk about the artists. I think they are to the society that what the microbes and bacteria are to life: indispensable. they are believed unnecessary, everyone fight against them, but life would not be possible without them. about art now, I almost think for more than forty years ... to me it is something subjective that comes out from my bowels and get to this status once sold. especially as I consider every sold sculpture as a miracle.

it is the act of purchase that would define art?

in a certain way, to some extent that a not read book or not listened music do not exist. the same for a sculpture: when someone buys it, the piece is completed. until then, the cycle is not complete. Certainly, while I was creating it, I felt like I'm making art, I lived through the anguish of the artist, from euphoria to despair, but finally the public view that makes the work.

back to the place of the artist in the society. what is his part?

remove any literature, any music and any new creative plastic art and see after how we can live!

one of the major issues in art continues to be the speech. should art convey a message?

yes and no. the work, whatever it is, can inherently convey a message subjective or emotional. therefore, it expresses by itself. however, in contemporary art, the speech is in my opinion too often much more important than the work itself.

but the artist can also take a standpoint, or even denounce?

of course. I also think now more than ten years about a future sculpture entitled "in the name of ...". what haven’t we done "in the name of ..." since mankind exists? it should be realized within two years, but as now my ideas are not yet as simple as that.

simplicity as a necessary condition for the understanding or the beauty?

for me, less I think, as better it is. as more I can do a vacuum, in order to observe and listen the nature, as better will be my work. similarly, if someone looks at one of my sculptures for ten seconds without thinking, I estimate having won.

a work reflects its author as much as it feeds. in which way your sculptures have built yourself?

balthus said: "Many people make paintings, but there are few painters." for each artist to find his sincerity, not make selling. it is a huge challenge for all artists, even the most famous. in my case, I would probably not become that I am without my sculpture – from which I live now for more than thirty-five years - that built me in a dialectic way: I have built it as it has built me.

what is the role of doubt in your work?

approximately fifty percent, in the sense that I am never happy with a sculpture, even if I sometimes revisit old sculptures with some satisfaction. in my workshop, where I try to create without repeating myself, I still doubt.

do you really create?

no! merely we only are reinventing that was already well-known, on the basis of the past and all that we have seen, red or heard. I do not believe in genius. giacometti, with his walking man, e.g., would not exist without the etruscans. and this is standart.

what about the coincidence?

omnipresent in people's life, it is also present in your workshop. when I start a sculpture, I' always start with an idea, but halfway casual event takes over. regardless of its size, the sculpture is always my guide, the sculpture is the boss.

"all art is autobiographical. the pearl is the autobiography of the oyster, "said the italian film maker federico fellini. however, it is always a grain of sand that triggers the activity of the pearl oyster! what is your engine?

I did an apprenticeship as a decorator with a boss who, when I was fifteen, immediately learned to weld and improvise, which I loved very much. since the "creation" is a true happiness, if not a real need for me. after one week holiday, I have to go back to work. the question is not to have ideas, but to eliminate the bad ideas. as to the autobiographical part, it is always present. we can not escape ourselves.

after a few years solely devoted to an abstraction that you also continue to explore, you are returned to the human figure, in a less tortured than you started. Who of you, the art or the artist has appeased the other?

for eight years, particularly influenced by our society (the artist is a sponge), I stopped representing the human body and returned to a much more sober manner. to sculpture has perhaps calmed me, but life, particularly, calmed me, too. I am sixty-six years old and, therefore, I see things differently now than when I was thirty years old. I am less tortured, that is reflected in my sculptures.

jef gianadda

@ all rights reserved
méditerranée
1990
90x38cm
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énergie
1992
h 195cm
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catalogue
1993
h27.5x22cm
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face au vent
1994
h 156cm
n°2/6
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tango
1996
h 100cm
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la danseuse
1998
h 98cm
@ all rights reserved
bas relief
2001
h 62cm
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table
2001
57x57x45cm
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sans titre
2002
h 132m
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n°241
2003
h 78x78cm
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n°225
2003
h 59cm
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en or
2004
h 41x13x14cm
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n°265
2005
h 53cm
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le temps II
2008
h 94cm
@ all rights reserved
les coucou's
2009
2 x h 32cm

art space

@ françois bertin
miroir
1994
h 156 / 220 / 320 cm
@ nufnuf-art
l'envol
1994
h 65 cm
@ nufnuf-art
nº 264
2005
h 70 cm
pièce unique
@ g. gastel, milan
nº 276
2006
h 55 cm
pièce unique
@ g. gastel, milan
nº 277
2006
h 116 cm
pièce unique
@ g. gastel, milan
nº 279
2006
h 42 cm
pièce unique
@ nufnuf-art
feminité I
2007
h 54 cm
@ nufnuf-art
feminité II
2008
h 61 cm
@ all rights reserved
le passage
2009
h 43 cm
pièce unique
@ kosana adv
chaos romantique II
2010
h 36 cm
pièce unique
@ nufnuf-art
l'ange
2010
h 90 cm
pièce unique
@ nufnuf-art
lui
2010
h 60 cm
pièce unique
@ kosana adv
pluralité
2010
h 56 cm
pièce unique
@ nufnuf-art
équilibre n° 362
2011
h 153 cm
pièce unique
@ nufnuf-art
la fuite n° 359
2011
h 159 cm
pièce unique
@ nufnuf-art
éphémère
2012
h 45x45 cm
pièce unique
@ nufnuf-art
source de vie
2012
h 45x45 cm
pièce unique
@ nufnuf-art
équilibre
2012
h 66 cm
équilibre
@ nufnuf-art
danse avec les arbres
2012
h 195 cm
pièce unique
@ nufnuf-art
l'oiseau au bec rouge
2012
h 96 cm
pièce unique
@ kosana adv
esquisse d'une histoire
2013
80x40 cm
pièce unique
@ kosana adv
le voici
2013
h 60x30 cm
pièce unique
@ kosana adv
palpitation
2013
h 75 cm
pièce unique
@ kosana adv
une étoile qui dance
2013
h 51 cm
pièce unique
@ kosana adv
migration
2013
h 45x45 cm
pièce unique
@ kosana adv
les filles en bleu
2013
h 42x42 cm
pièce unique
phone

+41 21 909 56 75

e-mail

basler.rue@bluewin.ch

exhibitions

permanent exhibition

galerie de rue (entre oron et moudon)
ch-1673, suisse

ou visite sur rendez-vous
tél./fax: +41 21 909 56 75

awards / publications / tv / movies

awards

1980
premier prix du concours de l’université, genève, suisse
1981
premier prix du concours du 500 ème anniversaire, fribourg, suisse

publications

2005
basler sculptures, grafica promedia, pietrasanta, italie
2000
arts & cultures, n° 1, credit suisse, bank art, suisse
“basler”, imprimerie roos sa, suisse
1996
luce d’inverno, omaggio alla terra scolpita
mostra internazionale di scultura 1995/1996
centro culturale “ca’ la ghironda” (fondation martani), bologna, italyarte & città, le sembianze del mito, page 70-71
mostra internazionale di sculturi a san giovanni in persiceto
edizioni diabasis, isbn-88-8103-024-1pietrasanta arte & lavoro, page 104-105
i laboratori di marmo e le fonderie della versilia
società editrice apuana, massa, italy

1995
interarte 40, gennaio ’95, page 161-163
circolo, artistico, bologna / editrice grafica l’etruria cortona (ar), italy
1993
“basler sculptures”, imprimerie hervé dénéréaz, suisse

television / video / movie

2004
biennale filicudi, italie, rai due sicile
2000
biennale filicudi, italie, rai due
1999
“l’atelier”, film de julien basler, 13 min
1998
biennale filicudi, italie, rai uno
1997
“mon papa m’a dit”, film de julien basler, 30 min
1996
Info hebdo, film de philippe nicolet (video production)
1984
Info hebdo, film de philippe nicolet (video production)
1983
film de eddy orini
1982
pierre gisling, tsr
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