Ambiguous worlds that play with conventional boundaries and defy interpretation: the art of Françoise Pétrovitch

Françoise Pétrovitch, born in 1964, is among the most distinguished contemporary artists in France. Her art reveals ambiguous, often transgressive worlds that play with conventional boundaries and defy interpretation. The intimate, the fragment, the disappearance, as well as themes such as doppelgängers, transition, and cruelty, run through her works, which are populated by animals, flowers, and creatures and whose atmosphere, alternately bright or nocturnal, rarely leaves a viewer untouched.

Framed by the topic of absence, this volume features new and recent drawings, prints, and video art by Françoise Pétrovitch. Absence can be agonizing, a tragedy. As counterpart to presence, it is characterized by longing and projection. It describes the passing of time, distance, and lack. Painting itself is also characterized by absence: the artist, the model, the landscape, or the past moment are not truly present.

Richly illustrated and with essays on Pétrovitch's art and the various techniques she uses, the book offers a deep look into the worlds she creates.

Autorentext

Nathalie Chaix is an art historian and director of the Musée Jenisch in Vevey, Switzerland.

Anne Deltour is curator ad interim of the Cabinet cantonal des estampes at the Musée Jenisch in Vevey, Switzerland.