Raymond Hains

Raymond Hains (Dinard, 1926 - Paris, 28 October 2005) was a French artist and photographer. In 1945 Hains briefly enrolled in the sculpture course at the École des Beaux-Arts, Rennes and met Jacques de la Villeglé that same year. He then collaborated with E. Sougez as a photographer for France-Illustration. In 1946-47 he did his first abstract photographs (Photographies hypnagogiques) inspired by Surrealism using mirrors or taken through deformin... more

Raymond Hains (Dinard, 1926 - Paris, 28 October 2005) was a French artist and photographer. In 1945 Hains briefly enrolled in the sculpture course at the École des Beaux-Arts, Rennes and met Jacques de la Villeglé that same year. He then collaborated with E. Sougez as a photographer for France-Illustration. In 1946-47 he did his first abstract photographs (Photographies hypnagogiques) inspired by Surrealism using mirrors or taken through deforming glass, which were shown in Paris in 1948. In 1950 he invented the concept of the "Ultra-lettre" and devoted himself to his lettres éclatées (shattered letters). In the 1950s, together with fellow affichiste Jacques de la Villeglé he started using collage and found torned posters from street advertisements in creating Ultra-Lettrist psychogeographical hypergraphics. This Neoist Dada spirit would inform the rest of his career. In 1957 he exhibited his torn posters in Paris. In 1959 he exhibited at the Salon des Réalités Nouvelles and was... less