Jeff WALL, The Crooked Path

Until Sep 11, the Palais des Beaux Arts in Brussels hosts a promising exhibition, the Crooked Path, which mixes 25 photographs by Jeff Wall with other artists’ works, from Atget to more contemporary names such as Thomas Ruff or Mark Lewis. The show has been co-conceived by Jeff Wall, hence giving a fine view at the artist’s inspiration and references.

For those who can’t make it to Brussels, and even for those who can, I recommend viewing the one hour long conference given by Jeff Wall, who made a kind of “guided tour” of the exhibition (http://www.bozar.be/webpage_broadcastitem.php?broadc_id=1354). Wall speaks, in brilliant terms, of photography issues, such as the importance of scale, the role of artifice, or the distinction between documentary and literary approaches. On a more personal note, he comes back to his career beginnings as a minimal and conceptual artist (for the anecdote, Jeff Wall work was included in Lucy Lippard 557087 exhibition in 1969, almost ten years before his first light box image…). Among other references, Wall gives credits to other artists’ work, one fine example being Jean-Marc Bustamante Tableaux series, created as early as the end of the 70’s, all unique (as paintings “tableaux”, standing on their own), an underestimated gem in photography history.

Wade GUYTON, Black Paintings

In the art book world, good surprises are rather scarce these days. So let me seize the opportunity to signal (at last) an outstanding release: Wade Guyton’s Black Paintings, published by JRP Ringier. More than an illustrative project, it is a true artist book, for which everything (from the paper and binding to graphic design) seems to have been thought over in details.

As the publisher’s description states, “for this volume, Wade Guyton first had the book designed, and then printed it on the same ink-jet printers he used for his large-format serial prints on canvas. These pages were then scanned and printed by offset”. The result is that the physical object in itself corresponds well with Guyton’s approach, focused on imperfections. Even better, it is an extension of the work, on the same level than a printer’s drawing or a canvas.

With “Black Paintings” (not to mention the two publications made for Museum Ludwig and Vienna Secession), Wade Guyton clearly fulfills an ambition many contemporary artists are neglecting: making good artist’s books. It sheds a fine light on a very coherent body of work, making him much more than a hot speculative artist.
PS: the closest link I could find with another artist book is Christopher Wool’s Maybe Maybe Not, in which Wool included Polaroids of his paintings, photocopied and photocopied again. Obviously, making art in the age of mechanical reproduction is everyone’s challenge…

Images: courtesy JRP Ringier