Olivier Blanckart

Born in 1959 in Brussels, he lives in Paris.

Olivier Blanckart, who is now well known for his cantankerous aggressiveness and his neo-Dadaist nihilism, embarked on his career as an artist by playing the role of a homeless person, squatting exhibition openings with his boxes and his hut made of various kinds of packaging. He uses these scrap materials to fashion his Quasi-Objects, cobbled together simulacra of everyday things, made in his spare time for a quasi-use. These constructions have gradually turned into fullyfledged sculptures made of cardboard and Scotch tape, and complex compositions involving several characters. In the Remixseries, the scene recreates a symbolic image of popular and media culture, in 3D and life-size. What emerges from this is a farcical version of the world, depicted with deliberately vulgar and exaggerated features. This penchant for mockery and absurdity helps the artist to get to grips with "topical subjects", as shown by Whore and the Beast (The Terror of St Virillard), an eschatological installation on view at the last FIAC in the section showing nominees for the Marcel Duchamp Prize, and Algeria, deviolated Women, a series of Algerian women with their faces uncovered.