This new monograph offers a fresh and international perspective on the relationship between Journiac's work and the sacred, notably by examining his use of blood as a material, from his earliest paintings (1957-1958) to Messe pour un corps (1969-1975), up to the final works of the Rituel de transmutation, du corps souffrant au corps transfiguré (1993-1995), which he dedicated to the victims of HIV/AIDS. Borrowed from Journiac himself, this title signifies the artist's entire journey to transfigure reality, to reinvent the alliance between the body and the sacred, and to connect individuals within a community founded on a genuine politics of friendship.
In 1969, Michel Journiac (1935-1995) emerged as one of the major French artists of his generation, a leading figure in body art, along with the Vienna Actionists (Hermann Nitsch, Rudolf Schwarzkogler) and Gina Pane, Vito Acconci, Bruce Nauman, and Chris Burden. The art of Michel Journiac is one of revolt, militancy, and subversion. His paintings, actions, videos, photography, sculpture, mail art, stage sets, and contracts use the body as raw material for questioning how society conditions it. His multifaceted body of work ranges across all the artistic practices of the time. It has been the subject of numerous solo and collective exhibitions and today belongs to collections in some of the world's most important museums.
