Le Grande O

Jacques Villeglé was a member of the New Realists group, which was formed by Pierre Restany in October 1960. Their common characteristic was the use of ephemeral materials that were far from "noble." They utilised metal, paper, trash, all kinds of posters (advertising, film, political), industrial waste, supermarket consumables, tinplates, everyday objects and focused on timelessness. Villeglé primarily used torn posters in his work, which he removed from the locations where they were originally posted. He developed the technique of "décollage" which involves cutting, tearing, or removing pieces from the original image. Additionally, he created a kind of alphabet consisting of symbolic letters. Thematically, his depictions covered a wide range, from humorous and satirical compositions to social and political commentary. In homage to the previous purposes of the materials, he gave his works the name of the street where he collected the posters. By stacking posters one on top of the other and tearing those at the top, he revealed those at lower positions, constructing the images he desired in this manner.