Murat Brierre or Murat Briere (1938–1988) was one of Haiti's principal metal sculptors and was known for his recycling of surplus oil drum lids. He was influenced by George Liautaud, but his work acquired its own highly experimental style, often focusing on multi-faceted and conjoined figures, fantastically personified elements, and unborn babies visible within larger creatures.
Early life and career
Brierre worked as a brick mason, cabinetmaker, tile setter, and blacksmith. He was born in Mirebalais or Port-au-Prince, Haiti and was the younger of two brothers. His older brother, Edgar Brierre, was a painter and sculptor. The brother's signed their works with only their last name, creating some confusion within their professional circles about the authorship of their work.
Brierre's sculptures typically ranged from three to six feet in length and reflected Christian, Haitian Vodou, and folklore themes. Brierre was also a painter, but ultimately chose to work with metal because he felt that the material was saturated with spiritual energy. It was a laborious process. The oil drum lids were hammered flat, drawn onto, then cut with a razor. The sheet was then cut with a chisel before finishing was completed with a file. By the mid1970s, Brierre's sculptures included pronounced areas of cut outs surrounding long curved lines of metal. Brierre's iron sculpture titled Chien de Mer overlays a dog head onto the body of a fish.
Solo exhibitions
1967 – Haitian Art Gallery, New York
1968 – Centre d'Art, Port-au-Prince, Haiti; Bradley Galleries, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Georgetown Graphics Gallery, Washington D.C.; Menschoff Gallery, Chicago; John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, Wisconsin; Roko Gallery, New York
1969 – Centre d'Art, Port-au-Prince, Haiti; Showcase Gallery, Washington D.C.; Botolph Group, Boston
1970 – Centre d'Art, Port-au-Prince, Haiti
1971 – Centre d'Art, Port-au-Prince, Haiti
1972 – Centre d'Art, Port-au-Prince, Haiti; Roko Gallery, New York
1973 – Centre d'Art, Port-au-Prince, Haiti
1979 – Areta Contemporary Design, Boston
Group exhibitions
1969 – Davenport Art Gallery, Iowa
1974 – Davenport Art Gallery, Iowa
1978 – Brooklyn Museum, New York (traveling)
1980 – Davenport Art Gallery, Iowa
1982 – Studio Museum in Harlem, New York
1983 – Chicago Public Library Cultural Center
1985 – Davenport Art Gallery, Iowa
1987 – Musée du Panthéon National, Port-au-Prince, Haiti
1988 – Galeries Nationales d'Exposition du Grand Palais, Paris
1989 – Museum of Art, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
2006 – Phyllis Kind Gallery in conjunction with the Outsider Art Fair, New York
Works of art
L'Araignée (The Spider), 1970, iron
Bawon Samdi, 1970, iron
Christ sur la Croix (Christ on the Cross), 1970, iron
Four Sirens, 1966, iron
Ogou, 1970, iron
Le Sagittaire en Démon (Sagittarius and Demon), no date, iron
Visage en Fer (Face in Iron), 1965, iron
References
- "A Collection of Haitian Iron Works". Phyllis Kind Gallery. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
- DeLoughrey, Elizabeth M., 1967- (9 May 2019). Allegories of the Anthropocene. Durham. ISBN 978-1-4780-0558-2. OCLC 1081380012.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - "A Collection of Haitian Iron Works". Retrieved 29 November 2020.
- ^ St. James guide to Black artists. Riggs, Thomas, 1963-, Dodson, Howard,, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Detroit. 1997. ISBN 1-55862-220-9. OCLC 36470125.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link) - Schutt-Ainé, Patricia; Staff of Librairie Au Service de la Culture (1994). Haiti: A Basic Reference Book. Miami, Florida: Librairie Au Service de la Culture. p. 109. ISBN 0-9638599-0-0.
- "A Collection of Haitian Iron Works". Retrieved 29 November 2020.
- "Visual Arts". The Crisis. 97 (8): 51. October 1990.
- ^ St. James guide to Black artists. Riggs, Thomas, 1963-, Dodson, Howard,, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Detroit. 1997. ISBN 1-55862-220-9. OCLC 36470125.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ St. James guide to Black artists. Riggs, Thomas, 1963-, Dodson, Howard,, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Detroit. 1997. ISBN 1-55862-220-9. OCLC 36470125.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link) - "A Collection of Haitian Iron Works". Retrieved 29 November 2020.
- ^ Davenport Museum of Art (Davenport, Iowa) (1995). Tracing the spirit : ethnographic essays on Haitian art : from the collection of the Davenport Museum of Art. Brown, Karen McCarthy. Davenport, Iowa: The Museum. ISBN 0-295-97504-0. OCLC 34524490.
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