Sylvère Lotringer

Donatien Grau

A personal take on French Theory by one of the people who invented it. In the mid-1970s, Sylvère Lotringer created Semiotext(e), a philosophical group that became a magazine and then a publishing house. Since its creation, Semio-text(e) has been a place of stimulating dialogue between artists and philosophers, and for the past fifty years, much of American artistic and intellectual life has depended on it. The model of the journal and the publishing house revolves around the notion of the collective, and Lotringer has rarely shared his personal journey: his existence as a hidden child during World War II; the liberating and then traumatic experience of the collective in the kibbutz; his Parisian activism in the 1960s; his time of wandering, that took him, by way of Istanbul, to the United States; and then, of course, his American years, the way he mingled his nightlife with the formal experimentation he invented with Semiotext(e) and with his classes. Since the early 2010s, Donatien Grau has developed the habit of visiting Lotringer during his trips to Los Angeles; some of their dialogs were published or held in public. This book is an entry into Lotringer's life, his friendships, his choices, and his admiration for some of the leading thinkers of our times. The conversations between Lotringer and Grau show bursts of life, traces of a journey, through texts and existence itself, with an unusual intensity.

Sylvère Lotringer in Conversation with Donatien Grau

I Was More American Than the Americans

Dieter Buchhart

Anna Karina Hofbauer

- A beautifully illustrated catalog documenting an exhibition that explores Alexander Calder's impact on contemporary art - The show at the Kunsthal Rotterdam runs from November 21, 2021 - May 29 2022 - Includes works by Calder, Olafur Eliasson, Zilvinas Kempinas, Simone Leigh, Ernesto Neto, Carston Nicolai, Aki Sasamoto, Roman Signer, Monica Sosnowska, Sarah Sze, and Rirkrit Tiravanija - The exhibition was created in cooperation with the Calder Foundation Calder Now documents an exhibition at the Kunsthal Rotterdam which explores the enduring influence of the work of Alexander Calder (1898-1976) on contemporary art. Shown alongside pieces by Calder himself are works by 10 contemporary artists, including Olafur Eliasson, Simone Leigh, Ernesto Neto, Rirkrit Tiravanija, and Sarah Sze. The text explores the way their work resonates with Calder's main artistic interests, such as the reflection of light and movement. Three noted art historians elaborate on themes such as the participatory and progressive nature of Calder's art.

Calder Now

Tom Bishop

Ways of Re-Thinking Literature creates a unique platform where leading literary thinkers and practitioners provide a multiplicity of views into what literature is today. The texts gathered in this extraordinary collection range from philosophy to poetry, to theater, to cognitive sciences, to art criticism, to fiction, and their authors rank amongst the most significant figures in their fields, in France, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Topics covered include an assessment of the role of literary narratives in contemporary writing, new considerations on the novel, a redefinition of the "poetic" factor in poetry and life, and a discussion of how literature engages with contemporary forms of individuality. Under the auspices of literary luminaries Hélène Cixous and the late John Ashbery, these new pieces of writing bring to light contributions by innovative and well-established authors from the English-speaking sphere, as well as never-before translated prominent new voices in French theory. Featuring original work from some of today's most influential authors, Ways of Re-Thinking Literature is an indispensable tool for anybody interested in the future and possibilities of literature as an endeavor for life, thought, and creativity. With special cover artwork by Rita Ackermann, the volume includes contributions from Emily Apter, Philippe Artières, John Ashbery, Paul Audi, Dodie Bellamy, Tom Bishop, Hélène Cixous, Laurent Dubreuil, Tristan Garcia, Stathis Gourgouris, Donatien Grau, Boris Groys, Shelley Jackson, Wayne Koestenbaum, Camille Laurens, Vanessa Place, Maël Renouard, Peter Schjeldahl, Adam Thirlwell, and Camille de Toledo.

Ways of Re-Thinking Literature

No thinker in the West has had a wider and more sustained influence than the ancient Greek philosopher Plato. From philosophy to drama, religion to politics, it is difficult to find a current cultural or social phenomenon that is not in some aspect indebted to the famous philosopher and the Platonic tradition. It should come as no surprise that contemporary artists continue to engage with and respond to the ideas of Plato. Accompanying an exhibition at the Getty Villa, this book brings together eleven renowned artists working in a variety of media—Paul Chan, Rachel Harrison, Huang Yong Ping, Mike Kelley, Jeff Koons, Joseph Kosuth, Paul McCarthy, Whitney McVeigh, Raymond Pettibon, Adrian Piper, and Michelangelo Pistoletto—all of whom have acknowledged the role of Plato in their artistic process. Featuring candid interviews with the artists, this volume begins with an essay by the critic and curator Donatien Grau that contextualizes Plato in antiquity and in the present day. Contemporary art, Grau demonstrates, is Platonism stripped bare, and it allows us to reconsider Plato’s philosophy as a deeply human construct, one that remains highly relevant today.

Contemporary Artists’ Visions

Plato in L.A.

The first monograph devoted to the work of PascALEjandro, an artist's collective composed of the painter, costume and set-designer and photographer Pascale Montandon-Jodorowsky and the poet, writer, filmmaker, comic book writer, director and playwright Alejandro Jodorowsky. This book primarily catalogues the pair's illustration work, Alejandro Jodorowsky having provided the lines and Pascale Montandon-Jodorowsky the colour. The vibrant universe they create brims with ancestral myths, contemporary tales and metaphysical reflections on life, and expresses the spiritual, philosophical and artistic soul of their relationship. It is a world peopled by angels, clowns, mystical lovers, pierrots, dream beings and characters from the real world. The colours are true-to-life but sometimes sharper and brighter, sometimes softer and calmer, honing our senses. Apart from cataloguing the illustrations of an entity that its creators call their 'symbolic child', the book also represents a manifesto proclaiming a more vivid and enchanted vision of the world, love and life. PascALEjandro's work has also extended to film and Pascale Montandon-Jodorowsky provided the colour for Alejandro Jodorowsky's recent movies, The Dance of Reality and Endless Poetry. Along with movie stills, there are also interviews with PascALEjandro by Klaus Biesenbach (chief curator, The Museum of Modern Art, New York) and Hans Ulrich Obrist (artistic director, Serpentine Galleries, London), and essays on the poetry, cinema, art and philosophy of their work by Adonis, Diego Moldes, Edgar Morin, Mar�a In�s Rodriguez, Philippe Rouyer, Diana Widmaier Picasso and Olivier Zahm.

Alejandro Jodorowsky and Pascale Montandon-Jodorowsky: PascALEjandro

Ways of Re-Thinking Literature creates a unique platform where leading literary thinkers and practitioners provide a multiplicity of views into what literature is today. The texts gathered in this extraordinary collection range from philosophy to poetry, to theater, to cognitive sciences, to art criticism, to fiction, and their authors rank amongst the most significant figures in their fields, in France, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Topics covered include an assessment of the role of literary narratives in contemporary writing, new considerations on the novel, a redefinition of the "poetic" factor in poetry and life, and a discussion of how literature engages with contemporary forms of individuality. Under the auspices of literary luminaries Hélène Cixous and the late John Ashbery, these new pieces of writing bring to light contributions by innovative and well-established authors from the English-speaking sphere, as well as never-before translated prominent new voices in French theory. Featuring original work from some of today’s most influential authors, Ways of Re-Thinking Literature is an indispensable tool for anybody interested in the future and possibilities of literature as an endeavor for life, thought, and creativity. With special cover artwork by Rita Ackermann, the volume includes contributions from Emily Apter, Philippe Artières, John Ashbery, Paul Audi, Dodie Bellamy, Tom Bishop, Hélène Cixous, Laurent Dubreuil, Tristan Garcia, Stathis Gourgouris, Donatien Grau, Boris Groys, Shelley Jackson, Wayne Koestenbaum, Camille Laurens, Vanessa Place, Maël Renouard, Peter Schjeldahl, Adam Thirlwell, and Camille de Toledo.

Over the last two decades, the encyclopedic museum has been criticized and praised, constantly discussed, and often in the news. Encyclopedic museums are a phenomenon of Europe and the United States, and their locations and mostly Eurocentric collections have in more recent years drawn attention to what many see as bias. Debates on provenance in general, cultural origins, and restitutions of African heritage have exerted pressure on encyclopedic museums, and indeed on all matter of museums. Is there still a place for an institution dedicated to gathering, preserving, and showcasing all the world’s cultures? Donatien Grau’s conversations with international arts officials, museum leaders, artists, architects, and journalists go beyond the history of the encyclopedic format and the last decades’ issues that have burdened existing institutions. Are encyclopedic museums still relevant? What can they contribute when the Internet now seems to offer the greater encyclopedia? How important is it for us to have in-person access to objects from all over the world that can directly articulate something to us about humanity? The fresh ideas and nuances of new voices on the core principles important to museums in Dakar, Abu Dhabi, and Mumbai complement some of the world’s arts leaders from European and American institutions—resulting in some revealing and unexpected answers. Every interviewee offers differing views, making for exciting, stimulating reading. Includes interviews with George Abungu, National Museums of Kenya; Kwame Anthony Appiah, New York University; Homi K. Bhabha, Harvard University; Hamady Bocoum, Musée des Civilisations Noires, Dakar; Irina Bokova, UNESCO; Partha Chatterjee, Columbia University; Thomas Campbell, Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco; James Cuno, J. Paul Getty Trust; Bachir Souleymane Diagne, Columbia University; Kaywin Feldman, National Gallery of Art; Marc Fumaroli, Collège de France; Massimiliano Gioni, New Museum; Michael Govan, Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Camille Henrot, artist; Henri Loyrette, Musée du Louvre; Philippe de Montebello, New York University; Jean Nouvel, architect; Zaki Nusseibeh, United Arab Emirates; Mikhail Piotrovsky, State Hermitage Museum; Grayson Perry, artist; Krzysztof Pomian, École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales; Mari Carmen Ramírez, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Fiammetta Rocco, The Economist; Max Hollein, Metropolitian Museum of Art; Sabyasachi Mukherjee, CSMVS Mumbai; Jean Nouvel, architect; Bénédicte Savoy; Collège de France; Kavita Singh, Jawarhlal Nehru University, New Delhi; Amit Sood, Google Arts & Culture.

The Encyclopedic Museum

Under Discussion

La littérature française est connue, et critiquée, dans le monde entier, pour être une littérature du Moi. Que l'on mette en cause le narcissisme de ses écrivains ou que l'on loue la finesse de leurs analyses psychologiques, on n'échappe pas, dans l'examen de la création, à ce constat et à cette question. Or, à la légitimation de cette littérature conçue comme écriture de soi, un modèle a été donné : Marcel Proust. Et un moment fondateur a été assigné : le Contre Sainte-Beuve, ce recueil de textes publiés plus de trente ans après la mort de l'auteur d'A la recherche du temps perdu. Donatien Grau revient, ici, sur ce moment décisif et qui se révèle, à l'examen, plus trouble, paradoxal, mystérieux, que ne l'ont dit des générations de commentateurs. En rouvrant ce dossier que Proust avait gardé secret, en déployant toute son énigmatique complexité, il ouvre la voie à un renouvellement d'ensemble de notre pensée sur la littérature.

L'inspiration retrouvée

Tout contre Sainte-Beuve

Il est d'usage de se plaindre de l'égocentrisme des écrivains. Et, souvent, on assigne à ce narcissisme littéraire, inavoué ou revendiqué, un modèle : Marcel Proust. En cette année 2013, centenaire de la parution de Du côté de chez Swann, il est devenu nécessaire de dresser le bilan de l'influence exercée sur la littérature par l'auteur d'A la recherche du temps perdu. Or le grand lieu commun, sur le sujet, tient à la question de la dualité inhérente à l'identité de l'écrivain : le "Moi social", d'un côté superficiel ; le "Moi profond ", de l'autre, créateur. Cette opposition a structuré cinquante années de réflexion critique, et d'écriture. Avec son corrélat : l'opposition de Proust à Sainte-Beuve, supposé se contenter de critiques "biographiques" des écrivains dont il rend compte.Cent ans après la parution de Du côté de chez Swann, mais aussi près de soixante ans après celle de Contre Sainte-Beuve, Donatien Grau revient sur ce dialogue finalement méconnu, entre deux esprits qui ne sont jamais rencontrés que dans les livres. Et il démontre que s'est joué là un grand moment, non de refus, mais de conversation.Au passage, il expose une des erreurs qui lui semblent affaiblir la littérature contemporaine, et les chemins que les auteurs futurs pourraient peut-être emprunter.

l'inspiration retrouvée

Naomi Beckwith

Jennifer Higgie

This beautiful volume celebrates and explores Lynette Yiadom-Boakye's enigmatic paintings. Based in London, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye has emerged in recent years as a major talent in the international art scene, winning widespread acclaim for her large-scale, luminous portraits. Working in a luxuriously dark, muted palette offset by bursts of radiant color, Yiadom-Boakye paints subjects from her imagination, whose stories she sometimes elaborates through short fiction. Whether with a shy smile, leering, or evading one's gaze, Yiadom-Boakye's subjects consistently confront the viewer with a beguiling sense of intimacy and the implication of larger, hidden life. This volume surveys the artist's remarkable career to date through beautiful, full-page illustrations. Also featured are two critical essays that assess the artist's practice and distinctive approach to portraiture, an interview with the artist, as well as short stories by the artist that give life to her paintings.

Lynette Yiadom-Boakye

In almost thirty interviews, Donatien Grau probes some of the world’s most prominent thinkers and preeminent arts leaders on the past, present, and future of the encyclopedic museum. Over the last two decades, the encyclopedic museum has been criticized and praised, constantly discussed, and often in the news. Encyclopedic museums are a phenomenon of Europe and the United States, and their locations and mostly Eurocentric collections have in more recent years drawn attention to what many see as bias. Debates on provenance in general, cultural origins, and restitutions of African heritage have exerted pressure on encyclopedic museums, and indeed on all manner of museums. Is there still a place for an institution dedicated to gathering, preserving, and showcasing all the world’s cultures? Donatien Grau’s conversations with international arts officials, museum leaders, artists, architects, and journalists go beyond the history of the encyclopedic format and the last decades’ issues that have burdened existing institutions. Are encyclopedic museums still relevant? What can they contribute when the Internet now seems to offer the greater encyclopedia? How important is it for us to have in-person access to objects from all over the world that can directly articulate something to us about humanity? The fresh ideas and nuances of new voices on the core principles important to museums in Dakar, Abu Dhabi, and Mumbai complement some of the world’s arts leaders from European and American institutions—resulting in some revealing and unexpected answers. Every interviewee offers differing views, making for exciting, stimulating reading. Includes interviews with George Abungu, National Museums of Kenya; Kwame Anthony Appiah, New York University; Homi K. Bhabha, Harvard University; Hamady Bocoum, Musée des Civilisationes Noires, Dakar; Irina Bokova, UNESCO; Partha Chatterjee, Columbia University; Thomas Campbell, Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco; James Cuno, J. Paul Getty Trust; Philippe de Montebello, New York University; Bachir Souleymane Diagne, Columbia University; Kaywin Feldman, National Gallery of Art; Marc Fumaroli, Collège de France; Massimiliano Gioni, New Museum; Michael Govan, Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Camille Henrot, artist; Max Hollein, Metropolitan Museum of Art; Henri Loyrette, Musée du Louvre; Jean Nouvel, architect; Zaki Nusseibeh, United Arab Emirates; Mikhail Piotrovsky, State Hermitage Museum; Grayson Perry, artist; Krzysztof Pomian, École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales; Mari Carmen Ramírez, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Fiammetta Rocco, The Economist; Sabyasachi Mukherjee, CSMVS Mumbai; Bénédicte Savoy; Collège de France; Kavita Singh, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi; Amit Sood, Google Arts & Culture.

Donatien Grau

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