Visage aux hachoirs 

Curator: Chaissac's "Visage aux hachoirs," or "Face with Cleavers," as we might translate it, presents a rather arresting image in mixed media. Editor: Yes, arresting indeed. It feels primitive and jarring, the colors clashing, yet somehow holding together. What am I seeing here? Is this about work, the instruments, the 'cleavers' hinting at labor and production? Curator: Well, think of Chaissac's positionality; outside the dominant art world. His embrace of raw, untutored expression and his background. He was very concerned with societal outsider status. So it has been interpreted as a reflection on marginalization and alienation within society, expressed through this distorted portrait. Editor: Right, that context is important. The title seems almost violent. Perhaps he's commenting on the dehumanizing effect of certain kinds of labor, the way it 'chops' away at the self. Is it dehumanizing? How might that fit into art production as well? Curator: Exactly. And remember the use of such bluntness could be him intentionally rejecting refined aesthetics, signaling a move toward authenticity from his vantage point. How identities are constructed and deconstructed based on socio-economic factors. The face split, seemingly disoriented and pained. It speaks to fragmented identity, maybe the self-experienced effects of external forces. Editor: The use of very simple materials speaks to me here. There’s no pretension of luxury or technical mastery; it's a very grounded work that resonates with the materials of everyday life—almost defiantly so. In effect it reflects the life of many, not of the cultural elite. The materials underscore that class critique. Curator: It is hard to not see it within the wider historical trajectory of art brut, which further complicates it. Its engagement with outsider experiences definitely demands deeper contemplation about the mainstream versus margin paradigms. Editor: Agreed. The roughness of the materials adds a real layer to its conceptual framework. Curator: Exactly, what began as something that looked childlike actually brings forth really mature ideas related to political identities. Editor: An image of work but not, so evocative because it defies all kinds of normalities in artistic practices, making it very provocative even today.