"Notre Dame des Fleurs - Variations on a Genet Classic"

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Collected and published by Jan van Rijn - www.vanrijn-rawmaterialsandsupplies.com

Release date - 1. February 2021 / € 80,00 plus € 7,00 shipping

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This book is a compilation of various visual artists and writers on the subject of Genet’s ‘Notre Dame des Fleurs’.    

 

Based on extracts of the English translation of the unabridged original edition, published in 1949 by Edition Paul Morihien, it is by no means a consistent illustration of the book nor is it a cohesive interpretation in form of a graphic novel.

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I started this independent, non-commercial project back in 2018 and ended up with 14 artists who were willing to contribute their work in exchange for a few copies of a limited edition run of artist books.

Some of them kindly threw in existing work; others even had the nerve to produce material especially designed for the purpose and so we find exclusive work from artists like John Coulthart, Antoine Bernhart, Brane Mozetic , Anja Molendijk and Michael Ampersant published in this book for the first time and making it a real treat in a collector’s sense.

Then, interestingly, we find pieces that already saw the eye of the public in another context, but now, contrasting the words of Genet, they develop a strong narrative motion, charging the acquainted image with a new, unknown semantic level.

In this regard, take a rewarding closer look at the beautiful work of John Paradiso, Vilela Valentin, Apollonia Saintclair and the incomparable, uncompromising art of REX.

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Another tidbit:

Since there is no current English version of the unabridged original available, except the 500 copies released in 1949, this book offers another interesting feature, for it’s based on the early and slightly rawer translation. A lot of these abridged passages can be found in this edition.

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The artist book is printed in a run of 150 signed and numbered copies, 128 pages, 30 x 25 cm, bound in a reclaimed leather hardcover with a golden embossing. The cover and endpaper show reverence to the Morihien edition.