Joël Brisse (1953)

Biography of Joël Brisse

Born in Vichy in 1953, Joël Brisse has been painting and exhibiting his works for many years. Since 1997, he has also been making films and working on screenplay writing. Joël studied fine arts in Clermont-Ferrand and later settled in Paris.

His first Parisian exhibition took place at Galerie Diagonale with Egidio Alvaro. He was part of Zig Zag dans la Savane, a transdisciplinary group of artists—performers, visual artists, dancers—who staged interventions in abandoned spaces. In 1985, Bernard Lamarche-Vadel presented his paintings at Galerie Claudine Bréguet. From the late 1980s through the 1990s, his main exhibitions were held at Galerie Philippe Gravier in Paris. In the following years, his work was shown at Galerie Nathalie Gaillard and Galerie Duboys.

In 2009, the Roger-Quilliot Art Museum in Clermont-Ferrand dedicated the exhibition L'Habit Rouge to him. One of his works is also part of the FRAC Auvergne collection.

"I create images by working against them, against their literalness. I need to feel that there is something unresolved, something unspeakable—a density and meaning that come from painting itself rather than its subject. The subject is a vehicle through which I enter ‘the swamp where all reference is blurred.’ At a certain point in the process, something has to set (like plaster), and the image truly becomes autonomous, like a small world with its own rules. There is a paradox in painting: it creates intimacy with the viewer while at the same time holding them at a distance."

Recent Exhibitions

• Galerie La Ligne Bleue, Carsac-Aillac, 2025
• Galerie Nathalie Gaillard, Le Pin-la-Garenne, 2025
• Mac Val, Faits divers, 2024/2025
• Mac Val, L’œil vérité, 2023/2024
• Galerie La Cascade, Salle-la-Source, 2022
• Campredon Art Center, L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, 2022
• Galerie Nathalie Gaillard, C2Art, Paris, 2021
• Biennale d’Issy-les-Moulineaux, 2019
• Passion(s), Centre d’Art Sacré, Lille, 2017
• Galerie Duboys, Paris, 2016
• Halle Roublot, Dormeurs-Dormeuses, Fontenay-sous-Bois, 2012
• Roger Quilliot Museum, Clermont-Ferrand, 2009

Public Collections

• Roger-Quilliot Art Museum, Clermont-Ferrand
• Bernard d'Agesci Museum, Niort
• Museum of Contemporary Art of Val-de-Marne
• Fonds National d’Art Contemporain
• FRAC Île-de-France
• FRAC Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand, France
• Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art, Tarpon Springs, Florida
• City of Paris
• City of Clermont-Ferrand
• City of Issy-les-Moulineaux
• Fondation Coprim, Paris
• Fondation Ricard, Paris
• Fondation Colas, Paris
• Quasar – Donation Lesgourgues, Saint-André-de-Cubezac
• Publications
• L’Habit Rouge, 2009, Musée Roger Quilliot
• Suite Parlée, 23 monologues, Filigranes Editions, 2010
• Joël Brisse, Galerie IUFM Confluence(s), 2009
• Ligeia, January & June 2006
• 99 textes (La pellicule ensorcelée website), 2005/2006
• Rehauts (chutes), May 2005
• In-quarto, studio writings with Vincent Barré, Joël Brisse, Bernard Cousinier, Léo Delarue
• Texts for Alain Platel, Laurent Achard, Dominique Boccarossa, Alain Raoust, Florent Marci, Vincent Barré, Micha Roginsky, Léo Delarue, Caroline Fontaine, and others

Filmmaker and Screenwriter

• J’ai tué ma femme, co-directed with Marie Vermillard, 2017, 30 min
• Les Oliviers, 2013, 30 min
• Suite Parlée, co-directed with Marie Vermillard, 2009, 77 min
• La Fin du règne animal, co-directed with Marie Vermillard, 2003, 107 min
• La Gardienne du B., 2002, 40 min
• Jouir, Tuer, Rêver, Bouger, Mentir, 2001, 5 × 5 min
• La pomme, la figue et l’amande, 2001, 35 min
• Le Songe de Constantin, 1999, 22 min
• Les Pinces à linge, 1998, 22 min