First monograph, including a documentation on Abraham Poincheval's two new performances at the Palais de Tokyo, that lead him to experience the temporalities of the
animal and the mineral kingdoms.
Published on the occasion of Abraham Poincheval's solo exhibition at the Palais de Tokyo, from February to May 2017.
Published in cooperation with Les presses du réel, this series of monographic books accompanies the
Palais de Tokyo's exhibition program. Richly illustrated, with many views of the exhibition, accessible to all, each book will offer the reader an extended experience of the encounter with the artists' work. The artists' words will appear alongside original contributions by theoreticians, art critics, and curators, providing the reader with a deeper understanding of each artist's background and of the genesis of their project for the Palais de Tokyo. These books will allow the reader to follow the evolution of the artists' reflection on their work. Reproductions of artworks, preparatory documents, visual references, and studio views will bear witness to each step in the artist's process and accompany interviews and essays.
Thomas Schlesser is the director of the
Fondation Hartung-Bergman (Antibes) and he teaches at the École Polytechnique (Palaiseau). He is the author of numerous books, some of which published by Les presses du réel, and recently
L'Univers sans l'homme – les arts contre l'anthropocentrisme (1755-2016) (Paris: Hazan, 2016).
Adélaïde Blanc is the coordinator of the artistic department at the Palais de Tokyo. She curated Abraham Poincheval's solo show.
Abraham Poincheval (born 1972 in Alençon, lives and works in Marseille) is an insatiable explorer. Whether by crossing the Alps while pushing a capsule he used as his shelter, or by enclosing himself for a week in a rock, his—itinerant or static—
expeditions require total physical commitment. The inhabitable
sculptures which the artist conceives are laboratories allowing him to experience
time, enclosure or immobility. They are the envelope that hosts the
performer, an object that disturbs the landscape, and which exists through word of mouth.
