A Chronology of Lettrism | Maurice Lemaitre (original) (raw)

1945

• Isidore Isou, born 1925 in Botosani (Romania), comes to Paris

1946

• Isou creates Lettrism in Paris with Gabriel Pomerand.

• Publication of the group’s first journal: La Dictature Lettriste / The Lettrist Dictatorship.

1947

• Isou publishes two founding books at Gallimard: Introduction à une nouvelle poésie et à une nouvelle musique / Introduction to a New Poetry and to a New Music and L’Agrégation d’un nom et d’un messie / The Aggregation of a Name and a Messiah.

• François Dufrêne publishes his first poems, while Pomerand gives numerous recitals.

• First symphonies by Isou: La Guerre / War and by Pomerand: Symphonie en K / Symphony in K.

1949

• Isou goes to prison for his book Isou ou la mécanique des femmes / Isou or the Mechanics of Women, self-published, because it was considered pornographic.

• He publishes the first volume of his treatise on nuclear economics: Le Soulèvement de la jeunesse / Youth Uprising.

1950

• Maurice Lemaître, Jean-Louis Brau and Gil Wolman join Lettrism.

• First canvases by Pomerand.

• First issue of the most important journal of Lettrism: Ur (Lemaître publisher and editor).

• First political journal: Front de la jeunesse / Youth Front (Lemaître publisher and editor)

• Poetry performance evenings at the Tabou and the Rose Rouge with Isou, Pomerand, Lemaître, Wolman.

• Appearance of three metagraphic (hypergraphic) novels: Isou’s Les journaux des dieux / Diaries of the Gods, Pomerand’s Saint-Ghetto des prêts / Saint-Ghetto of the Loans, and Lemaître’s Canailles / Scoundrels.

1951

• Isou screens the first Lettrist chiseling film in Cannes: Le traité de bave et d’éternité / Treatise on Drool and Eternity.

• Lemaître produces Le film est déjà commencé? / Has the Film Started Yet, a syncinema event, and Gil Wolman creates L’anticoncept / The Anticoncept.

• Guy Debord becomes a Lettrist.

1952

• Dufrêne creates his first movie with neither screen nor film: Tambours du jugement premier / Drums of the First Judgment, and Debord does Hurlements en faveur de Sade / Screams in Favor of Sade.

• The Lettrists are divided into 3 camps: Isou-Lemaître (with Pomerand distancing himself) / Brau, Wolman and Debord creating the Lettrist International / Dufrêne and Marc’O (Externalism) launch their journal Le Soulèvement de la Jeunesse / Youth Uprising.

• First paintings by Isou: Les Nombres / The Numbers.

• Photographs by Isou: Amos, and by Lemaître: Canailles IV / Scoundrels IV.

• First symphony by Lemaître: Le Mariaje du Don et de la Volga / The Marridge of the Don and the Volga.

1953

• First solo show by Isou, Gallery Palmes.

• Publication of Fondements pour la transformation intégrale du théâtre / Foundations for the Total Transformation of the Theatre by Isou.

• Manifesto of Lettrist Dance by Isou.

• First crirythmes / shoutrhythms by Dufrêne.

1954

• First solo show by Lemaître, Gallery Palmes.

• Exhibition of metagraphs by Wolman and Debord.

• Lemaître republishes L’art des bruits / The Art of Noises by Luigi Russolo.

1955

• First Lettrist group show with Isou, Pomerand and Lemaître, Gallery Prismes.

1956

• Isou creates Infinitesimal Art.

• Debord and Wolman make a theory of the notion of détournement / derailment, subversion.

1957

• Isou publishes his text L’érotologie mathématique et infinitésimale / Mathematical and Infinitesimal Erotology.

• Lemaître launches the journal Poésie Nouvelle / New Poetry.

1958

• Lemaître releases his first Lettrist album on the Columbia label.

1959

ª Isou creates aphonism.

• Jacques Spacagna joins the Lettrist group.

1960

• Isou publishes L’art infinitésimal et l’art supertemporel / Infinitesimal and Supertemporal Art, as well as Initiation à la haute volupté / Initiation to High Voluptuousness.

• Isou exhibits at the Bookstore-Gallery L’Atome.

• Lemaître creates Alliage Créatique / Creatic Alloy.

1961

• Wolman and Brau come back to the Lettrist group.

• Group show at the Gallery Weiller, with Isou, Pomerand, Wolman and Spacagna.

• Isou creates a series of paintings called Réseaux / Networks.

• Lemaître paints on press tailings.

• Recital of poetry at the Paris Museum of Modern Art with Isou, Lemaître, Wolman, Spacagna.

1962

• Wolman creates hypotheitism.

• Lemaître creates his sculpture Arme / Weapon, and his second photography series, Un soir au cinema / A Night at the Movies.

• Isou exhibits 200 paintings at the Gallery Nahmer.

1963

• Exhibition La Lettre et le signe dans la peinture contemporaine / Letters and Signs in Contemporary Painting, at the Gallery Valerie Schmidt.

• Roberto Altmann and Roland Sabatier become Lettrists.

• Lemaître restarts the journal Ur, which has become the bibliographic journal of original works. Recital of poetry at the TNP (Théâtre National Populaire) with Isou, Lemaître, Wolman.

• Brau, Wolman and Dufrêne create the Deuxième Internationale Lettriste / Second Lettrist International.

• Wolman creates Art scotch / Scotch Tape Art.

1964

• Lettrist poetry recital at the Theatre of the Odeon with Isou, Lemaître, Dufrêne, Spacacgna, Altmann.

• First solo show by Wolman, Gallery Valerie Schmidt.

• Lettrist show at the Gallery Stadler with Isou, Pomerand, Lemaître, Wolman, Brau, Spacagna, Sabatier.

• Alain Satié joins Lettrism.

• Publication of Douze hypergraphies / Twelve Hypergraphic Works by Isou.

• Art corporel lettriste / Lettrist Body Art show by Lemaître.

1965

• Publication of Lemaître’s Oeuvres poétiques et musicales / Poetic and Musical Works and Au-delà du déclic / Beyond the Click.

• Birth of the journal O by Altmann.

• Jean-Paul Curtay joins the Lettrists.

1966

• Lettrist show at the Bibliothèque Nationale (National Library Rue Richelieu).

• Jean-Pierre Gillard and François Poyet meet Maurice Lemaître and become Lettrists.

1967

• Lemaître is a candidate for the Legislature and does café-cinema shows at the Colbert.

• Spacagna holds his first important solo show at the Gallery Stadler.

1968

• Permanent Lettrist room at the Museum of Modern Art.

• Isou becomes ill and is committed to a mental institution by the psychiatrist Dr. Ferdière.

• Gérard-Philippe Broutin joins the Lettrists.

1969

• Satié publishes Images à lire / Images to Read and Tatouages / Tattoos.

1970

• Poyet publishes Poiësis which receives the Anti Goncourt prize.

• Week of Lettrist film at the Cinémathèque Française.

1971

• The Lettrists publish a collective book of chiseled and hypergraphic photographs as well as an anthology of Lettrist music in La Revue Musicale.

1972

• Pomerand, distanced from the group since 1952, commits suicide.

• Publication of Lettrisme et hypergraphie / Lettrism and Hypergraphics by Broutin, Curtay, Gillard and Poyet.

1973

• Broutin starts his series of paintings with the theme of Isou’s political writings.

1974

• Curtay publishes La Poésie Lettriste / Lettrist Poetry with Seghers Editions

• Isou publishes De l’Impressionnisme au Lettrisme / From Impressionism to Lettrism with Filipacchi.

1975

• First solo show by Broutin at La Guilde.

1976

• Isou deposits the 9 volumes of his La Créatique /Creatics at the National Library.

1977

• Isou publishes Jonas ou début d’un roman / Jonas or the Beginnings of a Novel with PSI editions.

1978

• Lettrist show Salon de la lettre et du signe / The Letter and Sign Show at the Luxembourg Museum.

1980

• Isou publishes Fondements d’une nouvelle physique / Foundation of a New Physics followed by Fondements d’une nouvelle chimie / Foundation of a New Chemistry.

1981

• The Lettrists participate in the show Paris-Paris at the Centre Pompidou.

1984

• Isou publishes the complete Jonas.

1985

• Letterism and Hypergraphics show, Franklin Furnace, New York (USA), curated by Curtay.

1987

• Exhibition Isidore Isou et la méca-esthétique / Isidore Isou and Meca-Esthetics at the Galerie de Paris.

1988

• Publication of 24 photos refusés / 24 Rejected Photos by Lemaître.

1991

• Isou creates Excoordisme.

1993

• Sabatier coordinates the Lettriste Room at the Venice Biennale.

1995

• Retrospective of films by Lemaître at the Centre Pompidou.

1999

• Recording of Symphonie n°1 : La Guerre / Symphony No. 1: War by Isou.

2000

• Isou’s last public appearance, at the Sorbonne.

2003

• Publication of La Créatique / Creatics by Isou with Al Dante

2004

• Frédéric Acquaviva orchestrates Isou’s Symphonie n°4 : Juvenal / Symphony No. 4: Juvenal.

2006

• Isou’s last work: Symphonie nº 5 / Symphony No. 5.

2007

• Death of Isidore Isou.

• Last public appearance of Maurice Lemaître at Voûtes.

• Exhibition Isidore Isou, du Lettrisme à la Créatique / Isidore Isou, from Lettrism to Creatics in Besançon.

2010

• Wolman retrospective at MACBA, Barcelona, and at the Serralvès Museum, Porto

• Lemaître exhibition at the Bertalazone Palace, Torino.

2011

• Poyet retrospective at the Satellite Gallery.

2012

• Historical Lettrism is presented in the exhibition Spectors of Artaud at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, with Isou, Pomerand, Lemaître.

2013

• Lettrists documents exhibited at Kings Place, London with first audition of Gabriel Pomerand’s Symphony en K

• Guy Debord’s retrospective at Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris

• Michel Onfray reveals the importance of Isou on Debord in a series of programs on May 1968 on France Culture Radio

(Frédéric Acquaviva)