Jean Degottex (Sathonay-Camp, France, 1918 – Paris, France, 1988) is one of the protagonists of abstract art in France. During his research, he successfully undermines the conventional concept of painting, making radical choices such as abandoning both paintbrush and color while using raw canvas. Degottex states: “I’d like my painting to be a deep breath. […] Nothing before, nothing after, everything in the making.” Dèbris I, and many other works from the same series, are born from the will to represent the essence of barren and concrete materiality. They appear as debris left after a friction process, in which the pictorial composition arises from a pure interaction between light and rough treated-white canvas.
Jean Degottex