Haitian

Murat Brierre

Haiti 1938-1988
Man with One Tooth 96.0003

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Before becoming a professional artist, Murat Brièrre worked as a brick mason, tile setter, carpenter, and blacksmith. He also painted in his free time. When he was eighteen years old, fellow artist, Rigaud Benoit, introduced him to the Centre d'Art. Brièrre also studied with the master of metal sculpture, Georges Liautaud. Both Brièrre's and Liautaud's previous work as blacksmiths gave them a special understanding of how to handle metal, and make it conform to the desired shape. Brièrre's sculptures are greatly influenced by the vodou religion, and the idea of metamorphosis. In vodou, the lwa (spirits) are conceptualized and represented in numerous human and non-human forms. Brièrre draws on this concept to create a being that is composed of numerous interlocking bodies. However, this is also a wistful piece. The artist has turned the normal order of things upside down, placing the subject of this work, the Man with One Tooth, at the bottom of the sculpture, rather than at the top.

 

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