Jacques Clerc was born in 1931 in Lons-le-Saunier. A trip to Paris allowed him to enroll in the History of Art course at the Sorbonne, but above all to meet artists. The artist settled with his wife, a teacher, in Crest in the Drôme in 1956.Having found a balance, Jacques Clerc could now devote most of his time to his research in different fields, research that he would share with his students, creating workshops, opening their eyes to the outside world, organizing exhibitions and meetings...

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  Biography of Jacques Clerc

  Jacques Clerc was born in 1931 in Lons-le-Saunier. A trip to Paris allowed him to enroll in the History of Art course at the Sorbonne, but above all to meet artists. The artist settled with his wife, a teacher, in Crest in the Drôme in 1956.
  Having found a balance, Jacques Clerc could now devote most of his time to his research in different fields, research that he would share with his students, creating workshops, opening their eyes to the outside world, organizing exhibitions and meetings with artists and writers. Jacques Clerc is a go-between.
  A professor at the Beaux-Arts in Valence from 1965 to 1991, Jacques Clerc is a sculptor, engraver, publisher of artists' books and typographer. His plastic research is expressed mainly outside of figuration. His work is characterized by a work of the material (printed papers, metals, wood, plasters) where the gesture retains an artisanal dimension, in the noble and technical sense of the term. His work is also marked by numerous collaborations and friendships with authors or artists. Finally, an important place is given to writing in his creations.His contribution to the field of sculpture is marked by the verticality of his creations. His sculpted work will begin with the series of "Cinq continents", designed with Michel Butor. Later will follow the series of "Blasons du corps écrite", invoking a part of the female body on which he engraves a sentence.Tempted by publishing, Jacques Clerc will found in 1984 - he is then 53 years old - the art editions La Sétérée (name of the district where he lives in Crest), which have published around sixty works; we discover many renowned poets, such as Alain Rais, Dominique Fourcade, Marcellin Pleynet, Guillevic, Charles Juliet, Yves Bonnefoy, Jean Tortel, François Cheng, Philippe Jaccotet and Michel Butor. He will also be one of the co-founders of the magazine Nioques (1990-1995) with Jean-Marie Gleize. He attaches great importance to the readability of texts and the beauty of typography. He will work with artists such as Henri Cartier-Bresson, Olivier Debré, Gérard Titus-Carmel, Pierre Soulages, Geneviéve Asse, Claude Viallat and many others.In 2022, the Crest Art Center was the natural and ideal setting to discover or rediscover the wealth of this artist from the city. Jacques Clerc donated all the books he published to the Rare Book Reserve of the National Library of France.The artist left us in November 2024.
  

  

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