Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2019, History of Art

Francois Dufrene (1930-1982) is the most underrated and understudied French artist of the second part of the 20th Century. Of interdisciplinary bent, he began his career as a poet, inventing the genre of sound poetry, thereafter involving himself in politics and experimental film before ultimately focusing on a visual practice involving posters found along Parisian boulevards. An active figure in the cultural world of post-war Paris, he participated, often as a founding member, in many influential groups, including the poets who called themselves Lettristes, the political provocateurs called Situationistes, and the artists associated with Nouveau Realisme. On account of these activities, Dufrene is frequently mentioned in writings about the period and the movements in which he participated; however, his own work has yet to be fully studied in its own right. My dissertation rectifies this situation by shedding light on the impact of Dufrene's commitments, tracing the underlying threads that tie the varying aspects of his seemingly disparate oeuvre together. I argue that Dufrene's often overlooked writings are connected to his innovations with sound poetry, experimental film, and his later visual works. My analysis emphasizes the artist's continuing interest in probing the underlying structures of any established medium that he took up. What is more, I show that Dufrene maintained consistent political ideals and revolutionary positions throughout his career, which inform his work even as they illuminate the social, cultural, and political events of his time, a period of great civil unrest in France.

Committee: Lisa Florman (Advisor); Philip Armstrong (Committee Member); Erica Levin (Committee Member); Kristina Paulsen (Committee Member) Subjects: Art History