(1935) French artist

Ben, of his real name Benjamin Vautier, is a French artist of Swiss origin, been born on July 18th, 1935 in Naples in Italy. Member of the group Fluxus and close to Lettrisme, Ben is a major artist of the French artistic avant-garde known for his performances, installations and paintings. He becomes known for the general public from 1960s, through in particular his "writings" declined under diverse forms.

He lives a part(party) of his childhood in Paris and arrives to Nice in 15ans.
At the end of 1950s, he(it) opens in Nice a small shop with which he(it) decorates the facade of an accumulation of heterogeneous objects and in which he(it) sells second-hand records(disks). In his(her) shop or rather on the pavement meet the main members of what will be called the School of Nice: Caesar(César), Arman, Martial Raysse, Sosno, etc. Close to Yves Klein and seduced by the new realism, he(it) develops the idea that " the art must be new and bring a shock ". Also admirer of Isidore Isou, his work, based on a principle of painted writing, is to be moved closer to the lettriste paint(painting).
At the beginning of 1980s, on the return to Berlin, he(it) meets young artists (Robert Combas, Di Rosa, François Boisrond, Rémi Blanchard etc.), whose movement he(it) baptizes Free Representation, movement of figurative art characterized, in particular, by the absence of the respect for the rules of the classic representation, the use of heterogeneous materials and clashing colors.
He(It) reveals regularly in his(its) notes(tickets) (in the magazine(review) Art Junction, in his(its) exhibitions) the dark side of the world felted by the contemporary art and the schemes of the personalities (institutional, gallery owners, artists, etc.) the world of the art, and give his(her,its) point of view onto the political and cultural current events.
Ben also published several poetic collections, in mind of Beat Generation. He(it) also participated in the writing(editorial staff) of The Key, the atlas ethnolinguistics in particular drafted by members and sympathizers, as Ben, of the Occitan nationalist Party.

He(It) defines himself(itself) his(its) art as one " an art of appropriation ", declaring:

" I try systematically to sign all which was not it. I believe that the art is in the intention and that it is enough to sign. I thus sign: holes, boxes mysteries, the kicks, God, the hens, etc. I am going to be very jealous of Manzoni which signs the shit and which will steal from me the idea of the alive sculptures. "