Christian Boltanski — Livres — Florence Loewy — Exhibition — Slash Paris

Past: May 7 → July 9, 2011

Since 1969, Christian Boltanski has published more than 80 artist books, an occupation conceived as integral part of his artistic practice, and the perfect medium for his relentless investigation of memory. Their conceptual evolution takes on the artist’s approach, and are usually divided in different obsessional issues: the pseudo autobiographical reconstitutions of childhood, the inventories and lists testifying to the life of anonymous, the obsession of death, the impossibility to distinguish victims from tormentors.

So far, two catalogues raisonnés are dedicated to Christian Boltanski’s artist’ books, an essential aspect of his work : the first one, published in 1993 by Walther Koenig and edited by Jennifer Flay, and the second one edited in 2007 by Bob Calle in collaboration with the artist.

In its gallery space, Florence Loewy bookstore will show a chronological and non-exhaustive reconstitution of this artistic journey, critical to the understanding of Boltanski’s oeuvre.