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LES LISEUSES  · 2016

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Piezography prints on cotton paper, and painted wood panels mounted on frames

Various dimensions

The series Les Liseuses [Reading ladies] was inspired by early 20th century portraits of women. .

The models are all holding a book in their hand. With a digital retouching software, the artist replaced the books depicted with reference photography theory publications by Susan Sontag, Roland Barthes, Rosalind Krauss or Walter Benjamin. An anachronism that points to the discrepancy in the dissemination of photography theories, still acknowledging these 20th century publications as referential when the digital revolution could indeed deliver new positions. Aiming to strengthen the complex bond between past and present, the artist opted for piezography printing, an inkjet process that transcribes the charcoal quality so dear to 19th century Pictorialists. In addition, she applied a large stripe of oil painting across the panel, the color of which echoes to the dominant hue on the cover of the book represented. Through this formal addition, Les Liseuses reenact the bond between painting and photography in the digital era. The color band also confers a graphic, nearly illustrative dimension to the series that could again be viewed as a nod to our digital tablets*.

*In French, 'liseuse' has several meanings: it can refer to o woman reading, but also to an e-book or again to a book light.