In the years 1925-1927, Camille Briand was part of the Nantes bohemian scene under the pseudonym "Aristide". He was involved in the "Close affair", a social scandal that shook Nantes in 1927. Author of a satirical song "Surprise-party" which he sold in the public square, he was arrested by the police for not having a peddling license, an episode that contributed to his local notoriety.
Moving to Paris shortly after, he became close to the Surrealists and published his first collection "Opopanax" in 1927, followed by "Expériences" in 1932, which mixed poems, drawings, and collages. His first solo exhibition took place in 1934, and from 1935 onward he exhibited automatic drawings at the Salon des Surindépendants. In 1936, he produced his first tachiste painting and co-signed Charles Sirato's "Dimensionist Manifesto" alongside Jean Arp, Marcel Duchamp, and Francis Picabia.
His spirit of protest manifested itself through avant-garde actions: with Raoul Ubac, he placed objects in unexpected places and plastered poems and images on Parisian walls. He is notably the author of the slogan "Défense d'interdire", reprinted in 1968 as "Il est interdit d'interdire".
The year 1948 marked a turning point with the organization of the first exhibition of lyrical abstraction, bringing together Hans Hartung, Wols, Gérard Schneider, and Georges Mathieu. He then took up engraving and, in 1949, oil painting. After the publication of "Héréphile" in 1950, he abandoned literature to devote himself exclusively to the visual arts.
From the 1950s onwards, his exhibitions multiplied in France and abroad. His posthumous recognition was confirmed by the issue of a stamp reproducing his work "Précambrien" in 1987 and his participation in the exhibition "L'envolée lyrique, Paris 1945-1956" at the Musée du Luxembourg in 2006.
