André Martel

ANDRÉ MARTEL (France, 1893-1976).
"Example of Paralloïdre (Pataphysics)", c. 1960.
Ink and graphite on paper.
Framed with museum glass.
Measurements: 37 x 21 cm; 43 x 37 cm (frame).
In the words of the author "The first piece I composed at Paralloïdre was, in 1949, a short poem entitled Le Poéteupote. It arose spontaneously, without any premeditation to establish a theory. Simply, with total freedom, from my psychic impressions. Later, I understood that this poem constituted a prototype of sensitized language and that it could serve as a starting point for a poetic adventure."
André Martel was the creator of Paralloïdre, a literary language parallel to French, elaborated from neologisms and linguistic deformations. After an academic career as a French professor and secretary of the Académie du Var, a personal crisis triggered by the Second World War prompted him to a radical break with the normative language. In the 1950s, Martel, already a poet, undertook his aesthetic and verbal revolution.
In his manifesto "Le Paralloïdre" (1956), he describes how he breaks down conventional language to its most primitive fragments. His first text in this language, Le Poéteupôte (1949), inaugurates this experimental writing, full of sound games and unusual combinations. In 1951 he published his first book, Le Paralloïdre des Çorfes, which was followed by six others.
In 1954 he settled in Vincennes, where he adopted the pseudonym Martélandre, Papapafol du Paralloïdre, and devoted himself for two decades to this radical poetic creation. He collaborates closely with artists such as Olive Tamari and Serge Varaud, and maintains a significant relationship with Jean Dubuffet, pioneer of Art Brut, who integrates him into the Collège de 'Pataphysique, granting him in 1959 the title of Régent de la Chaire de Pataphysique Matrimoniale et Verbiculture.
His work is articulated in multiple forms: calligrams, typographic experiments, theater, mythical stories and odes, developing a style that combines the lyrical with the colloquial, and mixes slang with Greco-Latin roots.
Martel also published in numerous avant-garde magazines such as La Tour de Feu, Temps mêlés, Le Petit Jésus, Le Daily Bul, Bizarre and others, consolidating his figure as an experimental poet and a leading figure in French-speaking avant-garde literature.