Alfred Jarry
- Introduction
- Alfred Jarry (French: [al.fʁɛd ʒa.ʁi]; 8 September 1873 – 1 November 1907) was a French symbolist writer who is best known for his play Ubu Roi (1896), a pataphysical work which depicts the bourgeoisie as the super-mediocre. He coined the term and philosophical concept of pataphysics, which uses absurd irony to portray symbolic truths (and playfully vice versa).Jarry was born in Laval, Mayenne, France, and his mother was from Brittany. He was associated with the Symbolist movement. His play Ubu Roi is often cited as a forerunner of Dada and the Surrealist and Futurist movements of the 1920s and 1930s. He wrote in a variety of hybrid genres and styles, prefiguring the postmodern, including novels, poems, short plays and opéras bouffes, absurdist essays and speculative journalism. His texts are considered examples of absurdist literature and postmodern philosophy.
- Wikidata
- Q7841
- Introduction
- Author of 'Ubu Roi' and other plays, poetry, novels and essays. He has been claimed as a predecessor of Dada, the Surrealist movement, and the Theatre of the Absurd. He created a number of graphic works to illustrate his writings, and associated with visual artists such as Rousseau and Gauguin. He founded two art magazines, "L'Ymagier," with Remy de Gourmont, and later "Perhinderion." He coined the term "'pataphysics" to describe a "science of imaginary solutions," expressed in verbal games and logic so rigorously applied that it slips into the irrational. He has been admired by a variety of writers and artists, and inspired two formal societies, the Collège de 'pataphysique, and Oulipo.
- Nationality
- French
- Gender
- Male
- Roles
- Artist, Author, Engraver, Writer, Lithographer, Pataphysician, Woodcutter, Playwright, Poet, Graphic Artist, Illustrator, Painter
- Names
- Alfred Jarry, Alfred-Henri Jarry, Alain Jans
- Ulan
- 500199881
Exhibitions
-
The Paris of Toulouse-Lautrec: Prints and Posters
July 26, 2014–
March 22, 2015 MoMA
-
Making Choices
March 16–
September 26, 2000 MoMA
-
Miró’s Black and Red Series: A New Acquisition in Context
November 19, 1998–
February 2, 1999 MoMA
-
Paris—The 1890s
June 19–
September 2, 1997 MoMA
-
Fantastic Prints
February 6–
May 6, 1997 MoMA
-
A Century of Artists Books
October 23, 1994–
January 24, 1995 MoMA
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