The Possible Life of Christian Boltanski

Boltanski, Christian, and Grenier, Catherine; Sante, Luc (Foreword by)

ISBN 10: 0878467467 / ISBN 13: 9780878467464

Editore: MFA Publications, Boston, 2009

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239 pages, [16] pages of plates, illustrations (some colour); 21 cm. First published under title: Vie possible de Christian Boltanski. Translated from the French by Marc Lowenthal. Tight, clean copy. Dust jacket protected in a mylar cover. A fine copy of the first printing. *** "Christian Boltanski's votive installations, archives and objects, revolving around the fragile polarities of memory and amnesia, identity and anonymity, have made him one of the world's most renowned contemporary artists. And yet, despite the centrality of biography and testimony to his work, Boltanski's own story is little known and has never been fully told. Published on the occasion of the artist's sixty-fifth birthday, The Possible Life of Christian Boltanski, written in the form of a book-length interview (which the artist likens to a 'psychoanalysis' or 'confession') with the art historian Catherine Grenier, is Boltanski's oral autobiography. In it, he recounts his unusual wartime childhood ('my mother hid my father under the floorboards. He stayed there for a year and a half, between two floors in the house. He'd come out from time to time--I'm living proof of that!'), his career, friendships and marriage, successes and regrets, his approaches to art and teaching, how he created various installations, his relations with dealers and the public, and other matters that illuminate as never before his complex, enigmatic works. Boltanski is refreshingly phlegmatic about the realities of the world (art and otherwise), and he relates his remarkable stories--some enormously amusing, others tragic--with a matter-of-factness and self-deprecating humor that highlight his capacity for humane responsiveness. As both the self-portrait of a major contemporary artist and a frank, fascinating memoir, this is a document of capital importance." - Publisher. *** CONTENTS: Foreword, by Luc Sante; 1. Childhood; 2. Becoming an Artist; 3. Making a Splash; 4. Personal Mythologies; 5. Idea that Means a Lot to Me; 6. Shaking Things Up; 7. Beautiful Photographs; 8. Miracle of Success; 9. All Saints; 10. Between the Trivial and the Dramatic; 11. Artist's Life; 12. Artistic Affinities; 13. Dark Years; 14. Before Dying; 15. Life of Works; 16. Tell the Truth?; 17. Catalogue Raisonne. Size: 8vo. Codice articolo 104431

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Titolo: The Possible Life of Christian Boltanski

Casa editrice: MFA Publications, Boston

Data di pubblicazione: 2009

Legatura: Hardcover

Condizione: Fine

Condizione sovraccoperta: Fine

Edizione: 1st.

Tipologia articolo: Collectible

Descrizione articolo

Riassunto:

Text by Christian Boltanski, Catherine Grenier. Preface by Luc Sante.

Product Description:

Christian Boltanski's votive installations, archives and objects, revolving around the fragile polarities of memory and amnesia, identity and anonymity, have made him one of the world's most renowned contemporary artists. And yet, despite the centrality of biography and testimony to his work, Boltanski's own story is little known and has never been fully told. Published on the occasion of the artist's sixty-fifth birthday, "The Possible Life of Christian Boltanski," written in the form of a book-length interview (which the artist likens to a "psychoanalysis" or "confession") with the art historian Catherine Grenier, is Boltanski's oral autobiography. In it, he recounts his unusual wartime childhood ("my mother hid my father under the floorboards. He stayed there for a year and a half, between two floors in the house. He'd come out from time to time--I'm living proof of that!"), his career, friendships and marriage, successes and regrets, his approaches to art and teaching, how he created various installations, his relations with dealers and the public, and other matters that illuminate as never before his complex, enigmatic works. Boltanski is refreshingly phlegmatic about the realities of the world (art and otherwise), and he relates his remarkable stories--some enormously amusing, others tragic--with a matter-of-factness and self-deprecating humor that highlight his capacity for humane responsiveness. As both the self-portrait of a major contemporary artist and a frank, fascinating memoir, this is a document of capital importance.