Jean-FrançoisBory

Biography
Jean-François Bory (1938, Paris, France) is a French poet, visual artist, writer, and filmmaker renowned for his pioneering contributions to visual poetry and experimental literature. Emerging prominently in the mid-1960s, Bory quickly became an influential figure within avant-garde artistic circles, exploring and blending the boundaries between text, visual art, performance, and film. Bory's artistic journey took off with notable exhibitions of concrete and visual poetry, beginning in 1966 at the Number Ten Gallery in London, followed by exhibitions in Milan and Venice. His innovative exploration of poetic language led him to participate in prestigious international exhibitions, including the Biennale de Paris in 1967, where he presented object-poems composed of large-scale letters crafted from polystyrene. That same year, Bory collaborated with artist Jochen Gerz to create the innovative project "Agentzia," originally an art agency exploring experimental concepts, and also directed the groundbreaking film Saga, which visually represented language through three-dimensional letter forms. His notable publications include influential books such as Bientôt le livre (1966), Un auteur sous influence (1986), and L'auteur, une autobiographie (2001), showcasing his ongoing experimentation with literary form and poetic expression. Bory's multifaceted practice encompasses typography-based visual poems ("typoèmes"), photomontage, photography, performance readings, artist's books, and cinema. Throughout his career, Jean-François Bory’s work has been exhibited widely, including significant retrospectives and group exhibitions at major venues like Villa Tamaris (2007), the Venice Biennale, and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. His visual poems and artist's books are featured in prominent museum collections internationally, underscoring his lasting impact on visual and concrete poetry. Today, Jean-François Bory remains celebrated as a leading figure in visual poetry, whose creative fusion of text, image, and media continues to influence contemporary art and literary practices.
Artworks (14)
- Jean-François Bory
Untitled, 2001 - Jean-François Bory
Untitled, 1993 - Jean-François Bory
Untitled, 2001 - Jean-François Bory
Musique de Guerre, 1993 - Jean-François Bory
Untitled, 2001 - Jean-François Bory, Robert Watts
Fun With Fluxus, 1984, 1993 - Jean-François Bory
Untitled - Jean-François Bory
L'eternitè, 1966 - Jean-François Bory
Untitled, 2001 - Jean-François Bory, Sarenco, Various artists
L'eternitè, 1984 - Jean-François Bory
Untitled - Jean-François Bory
Archeology 1, 2001 - Jean-François Bory
Untitled - Jean-François Bory
Untitled, 1993