Euville
Susanne Bürner
Captures Éditions
English
Hardcover
64 pages
220 x 285 mm
2012
ISBN 9782953391244
Euville originates from a commission requested by the Tourism Office and the Pays de Commercy Association of local authorities (Meuse) within the framework of the New Patrons program proposed by Fondation de France and the interpark cooperation project ‘Paysage Industriel’, which links the regional natural parks of Lorraine, Monts d’Ardèche, Pilat and Vercors.
The work consists of three distinct sections. At first, the eye wanders over the artist’s photographs of the interiors of old extraction galleries: walls of limestone and stones in subtle tones, the mysterious penumbra of partially banked-up passages, unreal architectures and lights. Halfway through, Pierre Briot and John Paul Streiff’s text (extracts from the exhibition catalogue, Épopée de la Pierre (The Epic Tale of Stone)) traces the daily life of a quarryman according to testimonies from witnesses who have since disappeared. It prefaces photographs of graffiti drawn in the galleries, a glimpse into the intimate and human aspects of every day life in the quarries. Some illustrate joyful fantasy; others are dreamy musings, meditation, and a reflection on their apparitional context. The style and the themes are varied: a mysterious bicycle drawn in several places around the gallery, a peremptory drawing of a bottle of wine, a delicate small boat, a man in a hat smoking a cigarette, a woman wearing a low chignon, columns of figures, symbols of political struggle…
Each photograph addresses a narrative constructed by Susanne Bürner during various visits to Euville and its surroundings. The choice of big characters in the layout of the mini -narratives suggests a collection of stories and images intended to play through the memoirs, rather than of a work of erudition. The relationship between text and image avoids straightforward illustration and gives breathing space and distance. Euville deploys multiple visual links: of prehistoric art – the drawing reproduced on the cover recalls the numerous abstract symbols seen in painted cave decoration – to art and to conceptual drawing. Finally, the graphic conception borrows freely from history of art books made in the 1950s-1960s: the rigid cloth-bound cover, the classical unrolling of images, the consideration of detail within the ensemble and the attention paid to the quality of photographic reproductions. This is a purposeful loan that addresses the question of preserving and sharing these meditative commentaries, the emotional and aesthetic quality of graffiti dedicated to disappearance and its mysterious aura within the impressive context of old underground quarries.
(source: https://www.thelibraryproject.ie/collections/tsundoku-art-book-fair-2023/products/euville-susanne-burner-valerie-cudel?)
About the Artist
Susanne Bürner (b. 1970, Ellwagen) is a German artist living and working in Berlin. Over a wide range of subject matter, Susanne Bürner explores the psychological dimensions of photographic images, directing the viewer’s attention to questions of presence and absence, as well as to the projection of the viewer herself. In doing so, she challenges both the evidential character and the manipulatory potential of images. The supports that hold her photographs range from paper and books to fabric. Her work has been exhibited worldwide in museums, galleries, and project spaces. She has been invited to numerous artist residencies and was awarded several production grants. Susanne Bürner’s work is held in major collections, including the ZKM Karlsruhe; Nomas Foundation; B.P.S. 22 Charleroi; Zabludowicz Collection, London; Fondazione Morra Greco; Deutsche Bank; DZ-Bank; and Staatsgalerie Stuttgart. She has initiated and curated artistic projects at the Lajevardi Foundation, Tehran, L 40 Berlin, Kunstmuseum Bonn, and Galerie Giti Nourbakhsch.
xn--susannebrner-klb.de
(source: https://xn--susannebrner-klb.de/cv/)
About the Publisher
Captures’ initial priority was to publish artists’ books, an association artist, graphic designer and publisher, free of all constraints. Subsequently, with the constant desire to prioritize the artist’s voice, uncover research, differences and debates on the question of art, other collections were born: monographs, collective works and interviews.
captures-editions.com
(source: https://captures-editions.com/en/)
