Locus Solus – Impressions de Raymond Roussel

This publication brings together a wide selection of works by different artists, produced in association to the unique figure and legacy of Raymond Roussel (Paris, 1877- Palermo, 1933) in relation to modern and contemporary art, including various initiatives, aimed at disseminating ideas and information about a poet, novelist and playwright, who had an unprecedented impact on the history of literature, both in terms of the singularity and exuberance of his narrative and visual universe and also the methodology that he devised, extended and perfected.
Due to his unusual blend of conceptual rigour and linguistic flights of fancy, Raymond Roussel has been a major inspiration for numerous visual artists (Salvador Dalí, Francis Picabia, Allen Ruppersberg, Rodney Graham...) and authors from other fields, ranging from philosophy (Michel Foucault) to literature (John Asbery, Michel Butor, Julio Cortázar...) music, theatre (Guy de Cointet) and ethnographic research, thus generating an authentic mythology associated to his person. But notwithstanding the importance of his work, he remains largely unknown to the general public.