This autumn, Paris Art Week will be graced with a major solo exhibition dedicated to one of the most rebellious and innovative figures of 20th-century art.
Opera Gallery is set to present ‘Jean Dubuffet, L’Hourloupe et son sillage (1962-1982)’, a thoughtful exploration of a pivotal period in the artist’s career. The exhibition, running from 16 October to 12 November 2025, marks the 40th anniversary of Jean Dubuffet’s passing and shines a spotlight on his most prolific and influential series, L’Hourloupe.
This showcase promises to be more than just a retrospective; it is a deep dive into the creative genius that defined Dubuffet’s later work. Visitors will discover how a simple doodle evolved into a complex artistic universe that continues to challenge our perceptions of reality. The exhibition will feature works spanning two decades, tracing the evolution of the L’Hourloupe style and the numerous series that emerged from its creative wellspring.
The Genesis of L’Hourloupe
The story of the L’Hourloupe series begins with an almost accidental act of creativity. During telephone conversations in 1962, Jean Dubuffet began scribbling with red and blue ballpoint pens, creating automatic drawings filled with cellular, interlocking shapes. These doodles, outlined with thick black lines and filled with stripes or solid colours, became the visual foundation for a cycle that would last twelve years, from 1962 to 1974.
This new style was a radical departure from his previous work. It represented a deliberate counterpoint to his earlier series, establishing a system where the artist deconstructed reality to reveal an alternative one. Dubuffet himself described the process as “totally abstracting oneself from the everyday natural world to nourish the gaze only with one’s own mental elaborations.” L’Hourloupe was a visual language born from the subconscious, a way to map the mind’s inner workings.
The exhibition at Opera Gallery will bring together a curated selection of works that demonstrate the breadth of this vision. It will feature pieces from L’Hourloupe I and II, alongside subsequent series that grew from its influence, including Roman burlesque, Théâtres de mémoire, Psycho-sites, and Sites aléatoires, among others.
Key Works on Display
The exhibition explores the tension between figuration and abstraction, construction and deconstruction, that defined Dubuffet’s work. Two highlights in particular capture the essence of this artistic exploration.
Échec à l’être (1971)
One of the most impressive pieces will be Échec à l’être, a large-scale painted cutout from 1971. This work is one of Dubuffet’s 175 “Practicables,” originally created for his groundbreaking immersive performance, Coucou Bazar. First presented at the Guggenheim Museum in New York in 1973, Coucou Bazar was a spectacular hybrid of painting, sculpture, and performance.
The show brought the L’Hourloupe world to life, with costumed actors and dancers moving amongst painted stage elements. Échec à l’être stands as a powerful testament to Dubuffet’s ambition to break down the barriers between art forms and create a living, breathing environment from his unique visual vocabulary.
Site au Défunt (1982)
Another significant work featured is Site au Défunt from 1982, part of the Sites aléatoires series. In this later phase, Dubuffet returned to the techniques of cutting and collage. He created childlike, almost ideogrammatic characters on paper coated with white paint, which he then arranged into new compositions.
This work shows the aesthetic continuity from the earlier Psycho-sites series, with compositions that do not directly reference the outside world. Instead, they present a populated mental landscape, where identical figures inhabit a space governed by the artist’s internal logic. It highlights his continuous effort to create a pure, unmediated form of expression.
Opera Gallery’s Commitment to Post-War Art
For Opera Gallery, this exhibition is a reaffirmation of its core curatorial mission. Jean Dubuffet’s radical vision and spirit of artistic rebellion align perfectly with the gallery’s long-standing commitment to re-examining the French Post-War canon and connecting it with contemporary sensibilities.
“Dubuffet’s work reflects the very DNA of Opera Gallery,” says Marion Petitdidier, Director of Opera Gallery Paris. “His radical language, material experimentation, and rejection of convention are themes we return to again and again.”
By presenting this exhibition during Paris Art Week, one of the most dynamic moments in the international art calendar, Opera Gallery underscores Paris’s renewed importance as a global centre for post-war and contemporary art dialogue. It builds on the success of their 2021 Paris exhibition ‘Bal des Figures’, which also featured Dubuffet, cementing the gallery’s dedication to celebrating key voices of 20th-century art.
A Legacy of Innovation
‘Jean Dubuffet, L’Hourloupe et son sillage (1962-1982)’ offers a unique opportunity to witness the evolution of an artist who never stopped questioning, experimenting, and reinventing. The exhibition celebrates a period of intense creativity that solidified Dubuffet’s legacy as a towering figure in modern art.
For art lovers, collectors, and anyone interested in the power of artistic innovation, this exhibition is an essential destination during Paris Art Week. It is a chance to immerse yourself in the vibrant, complex, and endlessly fascinating world of Jean Dubuffet and to explore the lasting impact of his L’Hourloupe series. Don’t miss this tribute to an artist who dared to see the world differently.
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Meta Title: Jean Dubuffet’s L’Hourloupe at Opera Gallery Paris 2025
Meta Description: Discover Jean Dubuffet’s iconic L’Hourloupe series at Opera Gallery during Paris Art Week, 16 Oct – 12 Nov 2025. A major exhibition.