Born in 1926 in Quimper, France, Jacques Villeglé is a French artist, and one of the founding members of the New Realism group. He is considered as the leader of poster artists, taking posters from the streets before mounting them on canvases, a concept of poetic recycling of urban reality.
In 1947 in Saint-Malo, he began to collect found objects, such as steel wires and waste from the Atlantic Wall. In 1949, he narrowed down his passion for appropriating objects to include only lacerated posters. In February 1954, he met with Yves Klein, Jean Tinguely and Pierre Restany, with whom he would form the New Realism group in April 1960.
In search of the discards of civilization especially when they are anonymous, he put together a socio-political alphabet in 1969. Jacques Villeglé pursued his quest for messages inscribed anonymously through his “socio-political alphabet” with letters found on the walls of the city.
In 2011, Jacques Villeglé signed Star’arts with Daum. This piece of work represented the profile of the artist in crystal, adorned with socio-political symbols.
The alphabet is once again in crystal letters at Daum and invites us to discover symbols rich in history such as the Cross of Loraine, the Euro sign or even a heart pierced by an arrow.
Since 1957, selected works by Villeglé have been shown in more than 250 personal shows across four continents, and he has participated in collective exhibits in the five continents. His works have been acquired by the most important museums in Europe, America and the Middle East. Many monographs have been dedicated to him. In 2007, Linda & Guy Pieters published an important biography of the artist. Since 1988, eight of his nineteen volumes, which constitute the whole of his thematic catalogue of ripped posters, have been published. Jacques Villeglé is represented by the Georges-Philippe & Nathalie Vallois Gallery in France.