(2021) published on Open Edition Journals< /em> with the support of the editorial department of the Maison des Sciences de l'Homme in Dijon (USR3516 CNRS-University of Burgundy)
Classified in the category of beautiful books, the artist's book is a space for dialogue between literature and original works. These artistic and literary works which enchant people who love the arts, can be read, leafed through, unfolded, displayed to be admired or kept preciously, intimately in their case like a little treasure, a jewel. These works being by definition rare (printing limited to a few copies) and precious (illuminated), the FMA publishing house wanted to make them accessible by videos (reading by the authors themselves and leafing through) online at editionsdartfma .com with the stated desire to offer a wider audience another way of discovering contemporary bibliophilia, which is currently too restricted to insiders. Created in 2008, the FMA art editions have published around thirty works presented in this article and a new original edition published in the fall of 2020.
Plastic arts and poetry hold an essential place in the life of Françoise Maréchal-Alligand (initials FMA of her publishing house). Baudelaire, Reverdy, Cocteau, Char… But also, Butor, Emaz, Noël… are among his bedside companions. She aspires to develop, to create a place where these two arts meet. Itis naturally in the contemporary bibliophile may she find the perfect illustration of her aspirations. She feeds on her encounters with poets and artists in osmosis with them, she develops literary and iconographic works of refined quality, appreciated by bibliophiles and enlightened amateurs. She chooses the specific artistic form of the artist's book, a place of sharing and exchange between a writer, an artist and the publisher. A trio who will dialogue throughout the production of the book in order to achieve a particularly sought-after balance between text and image.
To renew this genre, Françoise Maréchal-Alligand chooses to publish unpublished poems by living authors illuminated with entirely original iconographies by favoring the craftsmanship of books. Tradition, audacity and contemporary creativity characterize the Éditions d'art FMA.
In 2008, for her first artist's book, she relied on the complicity of Michel Butor and her husband Bernard Alligandwhich all two have made several books together.
« It was an immense joy when Michel Butor, "monument" of French literature, agreed to collaborate with me and offered me the poem Restoration of the female body.His benevolence, his stature of FMA art editions. I felt like diving into The modification< /span>, emblematic, which made him known to the general public (Prix Renaudot 1957 ) and still today high school students, and Moving to Milan which preceded The edit, as well as his poetry that I knew little about. »
Michel Butor and Bernard Alligand, Restoration of the female body< /em> (2008). Unpublished poem accompanied by original works: subjects photographed, digitized, retouched, printed on wallpaper by the artist, watercolor and sand stamping from the Libyan desert, heightened initials on each page. First edition of 45 ex. numbered, signed by the author and the artist. Double-leaf book, form. square 15 cm, 28 p. plus cover, text composed by hand in Marcellin-Legrand typeface, printed on Vélin BFK Rives 270 g. by the Art Book workshop of the National Printing Office (casing).
At the same time, Françoise Maréchal-Alligand meets Christian Jourdain, director of the book workshop art and print from the Imprimerie Nationale. Concerned about the quality of its editions, it wishes to benefit from the know-how of book craftsmen who have solid skills in the field of the typographic chain. It was during her visits to the workshop in Ivry-sur-Seine that she discovered the unique heritage of the hallmarks, most of which are classified as historical monuments. And among the hallmarks, the 7 Latin characters exclusive to the Imprimerie Nationale: Garamont by François 1er, Grandjean or Romain du Roi, Jaugeon by Louis XIV, Luce by Louis XV, Didot millimètre by Napoléon 1er, Marcellin-Legrand and Gauthier.< /span>
Over the course of her editions, Françoise Maréchal-Alligand will have a preference for the aesthetics of the engraver-inventor Louis Gautier in 1950: “I wanted to create for our time a typeface to which I wanted to give qualities of readability, simplicity and clarity (quote from Louis Gautier). I used the Gautier, especially for Grey area dAntoine Emaz. His line responded well to his refined writing, which powerfully expressed the tension of everyday life. »
Antoine Emaz and Bernard Alligand, Grey area
Each edition will be presented in a box, for its protection but also for its enhancement, sober and elegant. For her first two editions, the editor designed a box that she commissioned from atelier Dermont-Duval< /span>, recognized on the binding-casing market as having combined tradition, modernity and quality. Then she puts the Paxion Arts and Crafts WorkshopBinding of the Center in Limoges takes over.
The restoration of the female body, the first artist’s book from FMA art editions
Michel Butor revisits the famous myth of Isis and Osiris by reversing the roles between the god and the goddess.
Since then he has traveled Egypt / not only the Delta / and the Valley all their fields / which slowly emerge / in the lowering of the Nile / the islands of their villages / reflected by its mirror.
The unpublished poem is illuminated with original works by artist Bernard Alligand. “Producing original, unique works on each copy of the edition (45 to 50 copies) is a challenge that few artists can take up. Bernard's bibliophile work, now made up of more than a hundred artist's books kept in the heritage reserve of the Toussaint library in Angers, gave me a guarantee of creativity, audacity and quality of achievement on which I relied with confidence. In its blue canvas box, this first book (2008) is a marvelous invitation to dream. The initials enhanced by bluish watercolor touches, the collages, the stamping of sand picked up in the Libyan desert open up an infinite imaginary field. “Michel Butor composed this poem in perfectly regular stanzas. He inspired me with a square format, intimate with its 15x15 cm size. A square that I declined (18x18 cm, 19x19 cm…) for most of my editions, in leporello or sheets. It has the advantage of offering a balanced space and great freedom in layout”. Then, choosing the lead character of the book is also an important step. "I chose the Marcellin-Legrand typeface (created around 1836) for its style, which reminded me of the Orient. I was surprised that a year after the edition of The Restoration of the Female Body, Franck Jalleau , creator of typefaces from the art book and printmaking workshop, made a digital version, called Le Maghrébin. »
The principles of the editorial line of the FMA art editions are thus laid down: unpublished texts by contemporary poets, generously illuminated with original works, lead typeface, small print signed by the author and the artist, intimate format, art paper with a good hand, neat shaping and canvas box for presentation.
The restoration of the female body will be presented at the end of 2011 by the National Printing Office, guest of the Grolier Club of New York< /strong> for an exhibition entitled “Printing for Kingdom, Empire and Republic, Treasures of the Archives of the Imprimerie Nationale”. Nearly 200 major pieces, most of which are classified as historical monuments, are on display, including original manuscripts, old books and bibliophile books, prints, punches and dies dating from the 16th century to the present day.
“Carré d’Éros”, to awaken our senses
At the beginning of 2008, the editor visited the exhibition Hell organized by the National Library of France. Texts, sketches, essays, novels or manuscripts in miniature format, photographs... invite you on a journey through centuries of erotic literature. The writings of Baudelaire, Apollinaire, Sade, Bataille and many others are exhibited. Consider a collection on this theme? She called it “Erotic Squares” then “Carré d’Éros” and chose A poet for the first edition. Tita Reut offers him The Ring. With unbridled eroticism, the poem depicts a free woman guiding her partner in their carnal pleasures. Attracted by a play of materials and transparencies, interlacing of red and black colors, the gaze caresses the feminine, explicit curves of the works of Bernard Alligand.
Tear sleep / from my chaos / I will resist / by force / from a willful crusade / astonished by sex / burnt blue / crawled / under the ball in the center.
Tita Reut and Bernard Alligand, The Ring (2008). Unpublished poem accompanied by original works: subjects photographed, digitized, retouched, printed on wallpaper by the artist and tracing paper. Stamping using the carborundum engraving technique and heightening with gouache. Original edition of 45 ex. numbered, signed by the author and the artist. Leporello form. square 19 cm, 12 flaps plus cover (2.3 meters flat), text composed by hand in Romain du Roy typeface, printed on Velin BFK Rives 300 g. by the Art Book workshop of the National Printing Office (casing).
In spring 2009, Anne-Gaëlle Lebouc from the Les Arcades bookstore in Paris will present the first two works of the FMA art editions for dedication in the presence of the authors and the artist.
In 2010, Gaston Puel composed an erotic poem. I was deeply moved when I read Gaston's poem! An ode to love beyond the passage of time, beyond the Alzheimer's disease of his deceased wife. Over the course of editing and proofreading, he changed a few words, his poetry evolved. It was a touching adventure nourished by an important correspondence. This poem is a marvel.
The air I breathe / The day that sees us / Embraces nature that nothing misleads… / Cry of the lark / Sky, milk of clarity / Dolent tenderness / Everything has passed / Your shoulders of burnt shadows / Still bewitch me and invite me.
Gaston Puel and Bernard Alligand, Burnt Umber< /em> (2010). Unpublished poem accompanied by original works: subjects photographed, digitized, retouched, printed on wallpaper by the artist, tears, heightened sand, watercolor, ink. Original edition of 45 ex. numbered, signed by the author and the artist. Leporello form. square 19 cm, 18 flaps (3.4 m flat), text composed by hand in Garamont typeface, printed on Velin BFK Rives 300 g. by the Art Book workshop of the National Printing Office.
The Jacques Doucet Literary Library acquired it with its manuscript and the correspondence that surrounds it. The library is the richest collection in the world of French literature, from Baudelaire to the present day. It is made up of 90 writers' collections including Mallarmé, Verlaine, Apollinaire, Reverdy, Char, Éluard, Malraux, Bernard Noël, to name but a few.
In 2011, the publisher will continue its momentum by calling on Régine Detambel. Régine Detambel's works question the body and its memory, through the sensitive experiences of distress and illness, and make the healing process a romantic motor. « Régine has a 'beneficial' and 'physical' writing style. Ravigote is a hedonistic stroll with ravigote sauce to awaken our senses. »
My body is a plant / that the earth made / to give a name to desire / I make noise eating you / I have the enormous lust of roots / I am a larch root that dive.
It is in a gentle suggestion that the author and the artist concoct their bucolic and sensual recipe with a ravigote sauce: the "touch" by the velvety texture of the materials, the "sight" by the suggestive curves, the “smell” through the mixture of ingredients… Ravigote was published in 2012, and the same year, Rituel des sens by Sigurður Pálsson. A volume with cold tones like the Icelandic coasts where nature awakens emotions:
Feel the rustle/Feel the foam rising/Feel the fountain quiver/Feel the blood swirl/Feel the crashing waves/Shattering on the reefs.
Régine Detambel and Bernard Alligand, Ravigote< span style="color: #241c24;"> (2012). Unpublished poem accompanied by original works: subjects photographed, digitized, retouched, printed on wallpaper by the artist. Stamping using the carborundum engraving technique, stenciled highlights with purple, black and gold pigments. Original edition of 45 ex. numbered, signed by the author and the artist. Leporello form. square 19 cm, 16 panels (3 m flat), text composed by hand in Granjean typeface, printed on Velin BFK Rives 300 g. by the Art Book workshop of the National Printing Office.
Sigurður Pálsson and Bernard Alligand, Ritual of the senses (2012). Unpublished poem accompanied by original works: subjects photographed, digitized, retouched, printed on wallpaper by the artist, collage. Stamping using the carborundum engraving technique, heightened with gouache. Original edition of 45 ex. numbered, signed by the author and the artist. Book in double sheet of 28 p. more coverage, form. square 15 cm, text composed by hand in Baskerville typeface, printed on BFK Rives Velin 250 g. by the Art Book workshop of the National Printing Office (casing).
Ruins of the future, the book with 7 artists
2013 marks a turning point in the FMA Art Editions with a large-scale project that combines seven signatures, one per volume, to make up the box Future Ruins.
Fascinated by the monumental medieval tapestry of the Apocalypse in the Château d'Angers, Michel Butor has composed a poetic and critical reinterpretation of the letters sent by Saint John to the seven churches of The Apocalypse. This new apocalypse titled Ruins of the Future is imbued with a paradoxical creative tension: from a future in ruins will emerge the future. Testament as well as creed of this prolific author going into his nineties, Ruines d'avenir offers an illustration by words and images of the ambivalence of the two meanings of Apocalypse: both catastrophe and revelation. This poem, composed of seven epistles of seven stanzas, seven lines, seven syllables, has been published in seven artists' books, one per epistles. First Epistle, Ephesus:
Dear friends, I am writing to you / from the island of Patmos / to give you courage / and to reconcile you / it is the crisis of the church / everything is splitting on all sides / but we must hold on…
Michel Butor and Bernard Alligand, Patricia Erbelding, Bertrand Dorny, Anne Walker, Maxime Godard, Gérard Eppelé, Ruins of the Future (2013). Unpublished text illuminated with original compositions by each artist including the poet. The work covers a multitude of techniques: carborundum engraving, photography, textile, postcard, sand, pastel, watercolour, gouache, acrylic, graphite, charcoal, sanguine, felt, ink. Original edition of 12 copies, 2 HC. Each copy is numbered and signed on the colophon by the author and the artist. 7 leporellos, form. square 18 cm, unfolded 3 m each. Text composed in Garamont typeface, printed on Moulin du Gué 270 g. by Groupe Prenant (casing).
The seven books brought together in a box have been printed in 14 copies. All are illustrated with original interventions by the author and six of his visual artist friends, painters and photographers. Ephesus: Bernard Alligand uses the carborundum technique for stamping in the white of the paper and collages to bring out proud riders. All in transparency and opacity. Smyrna: Patricia Erbelding sketches a red horse in red chalk; and by the use of beeswax makes appear/disappear the supposed traces of the animal, itself disappeared from the hanging. Pergame: Bertrand Dorny takes up the textile material by sticking Japanese fabrics. Thyatire: Anne Walker adopts the spirit of illuminations with iridescent lines and cartouches in pastel. Sardes: Maxime Godard summons prehistoric animals to create a fantastic bestiary. Philadelphia : Gérard Eppelé is interested in angels, which he draws with a different technique for each copy (watercolor, colored ink, lead pencil, etc.) . Finally, Laodicea: Michel Butor affixes his collages on alternating red and blue ink to resume the rhythm of the wall hanging. Michel took up the idea of his rich correspondence with artists and friends, the famous collage-letters. »
Drawing as much on the biblical text as on the Angers tapestry, the artists each accompany an epistle with their engravings, collages, drawings or photographs. Between the dominant infernal reds and celestial blues, between transparency and opacity, they aspire to pick up the pieces of our dramas, to restore our ruins. From the world of the tapestry from which come trumpets, angels, horsemen and cities, a new world appears.
Inspired by the ambulatory reading of the tapestry of the Château d'Angers, the publisher Françoise Maréchal-Alligand has chosen a publication in fold-out books. Each volume unfolds in a leporello of seventeen sections, the last three of which serve as the cover and flap, opposite the title page. On each of the seven books, fourteen sections are left to the text and plastic works, as on each of the great pieces of medieval tapestry. Each copy, just over three meters long, slightly exceeds the average width of a scene in the tapestry, while the complete series approaches, with its 21.42 meters, the presumed length of each large piece of the tapestry. Apocalypse tapestry.
Published in very few copies, from the initiation of the project, it was a question of highlighting the genesis and the symbolism of Ruines d'avenir through an exhibition touring, videos… and a catalog published by Actes Sud and the City of Angers. The bibliophile work will be exhibited at the Château d'Angers from March to the end of August 2016, then at the Louis Nucéra library in Nice in winter 2017 and at the Ceccano library in Avignon in summer 2018. The poem is taken up in the form of a facsimile of the seven volumes embellished with introductions to this literary and visual work by Mireille Calle-Gruber, novelist, professor of French and comparative literature at the Sorbonne Nouvelle-Paris 3 University, by Marc -Édouard Gautier, archivist-paleographer, chief curator of libraries and deputy director of the municipal library of Angers and Patricia Corbett, doctor in the history of medieval art, administrator of the castle of Angers, as well as comments of their interventions by each of the artists.
Several videos have been posted on the YouTube channel of the FMA art editions: an interview by Mireille Calle-Gruber, of Michel Butor, Bernard Alligand and Françoise Maréchal-Alligand which presents the genesis of the project, a report on the inauguration of the exhibition at the Château d'Angers, the reading by Michel Butor of the 7 poems with leafing through the books.
The Lady with the unicorn: double gaze, masculine, feminine
Strengthened by this collective adventure, Françoise Maréchal-Alligand wishes to create a new work inspired by an emblematic tapestry: “With Bernard, we looked for another inspiring tapestry, but this time profane. The Lady with the Unicorn from the Cluny Museum is a must. Touch, taste, smell, hearing and sight... These six tapestries, woven around 1500, represent the five senses on a red background inhabited by abundant nature. There remains the enigmatic sixth sense. These millefleurs style tapestries are characterized by abundant flora (flowers , orange trees, pines, holly, oaks) and are populated by a peaceful bestiary (monkeys, dogs, rabbits, heron). In this heavenly nature that invites contemplation, the unicorn is sometimes an actor and sometimes a simple spectator. Accompanied by a lion, the tapestry bears the coat of arms of the Le Viste family on each scene. The tapestry of the Lady and the Unicorn was acquired in 1882 by the State on the recommendation of Prosper Mérimée, inspector of national monuments. It is now considered one of the great masterpieces of Western art. "It's a hymn to femininity that touches universal realities. So I entrusted the first volume, whose title is Aux jardins de la unicorn, to a male pair, Michel Butor and Bernard Alligand , and the second to a female duo, Régine Detambel and Patricia Erbelding, who imagined Elle est le monde. » The box set released in 2015 presents these two books opposite each other. The fabulous animal offers its enigmatic silhouette in a positive/negative game. The covers respond to each other surprisingly, without consultation between the artists and authors, the projects having been carried out independently by Françoise Maréchal-Alligand.
Régine Detambel and Patricia Erbelding, She is the world (2015). Interpretation of the floral decorations of the Lady and the Unicorn in watercolor washes of multiple colors and wax stamping creating a transparent effect throughout the book.
Michel Butor and Bernard Alligand, At the unicorn gardens< /em> (2015). Details of the Lady and the Unicorn tapestry photographed, digitized, retouched, printed on paper of different textures; drawings, acrylic paint, resin on tracing paper, collages, cutouts, stamping in the white of the paper. Edition
original 2015 at 45 ex. numbered and signed by the author and the artist. Leporello. Form. square 18 cm. 19 shutters including cover (3.40 m). Text composed in Garamont type, printed in offset on Moulin du Gué 270 g by Groupe Prenant (casing).
Inside, complementary universes arise: “The men adopt a descriptive bias with photographs printed on papers of different textures. » These pages are ennobled by a wide variety of techniques that create depth and mystery: drawing, painting, tracing, resin, cutting, stamping... « The female gaze is allegorical. » He revisits the millefleurs style in bright and fresh colors in watercolor wash and sublimates the poem inspired by courtly love. Wax applications provide transparency effects that are revealed in the light when unfolding the book.
Thanks to our friends Brigitte and Gilles Benoist from the Friends of the Cluny Museum association, we were able to meet the management of the museum to plan a presentation of the book. » The bibliophilic duo was presented as part of the exhibitionMagic Unicorn which inaugurated the reopening of the museum on July 14 2018 to February 25, 2019. Beforehand, a meeting-reading took place on November 13, 2017, led by Béatrice de Chancel-Bardelot, general heritage curator at the Cluny museum, Clara Dupont -Monod, journalist, novelist and specialist in medieval culture, Mireille Calle-Gruber, Françoise Maréchal-Alligand and other contributors.
A collaborative mode based on proximity
“My job as a publisher consists in offering artistic and literary works capable of enchanting people who love literature and beautiful books. But personally, I attach great importance to ensuring that each project brings friendship, joy and shared pride. Françoise Maréchal-Alligand asks poets to ask them for an exclusive work: “In general, I ask for several texts in order to have a choice. Then I create the layout, adapting it to the spirit of the text. After sharing this first step with the author, the texts are composed by an art publishing craftsman. At the time of printing (I always attend) I ask the craftsman to accentuate the treading of the character. Beyond the sensuality of touch, the relief it brings to the text is a way of taking the opposite view of the digital increasingly used by publishers and/or artists. This is one of the distinguishing elements of my editions. »
The reserves of the art book and printmaking workshop contain treasures that the editor gladly uses. Bernard Alligand thus reworked the imperial bee motif for Hexagones in disarray by Michel Butor (2012). By making the bees speak, the author evokes with lucidity and poetry Man and his actions towards these workers in distress. Pollen, craft paper made from mulberry leaves, raised hexagons… the artist’s material works encourage touch.
I don’t know what poison / seeps into our veins / our wings slow down / our clumsy legs / no longer allow us / to collect pollen…
Michel Butor and Bernard Alligand, Hexagons in disarray (2008). Unpublished poem accompanied by original works: subjects photographed, digitized, retouched, printed on paper and tracing paper. Stamping using the carborundum engraving technique and heightened with gouache. Stamp made from the Napoleon III bee (exclusive collection of the Atelier du livre). Original edition of 45 ex. numbered, signed by the author and the artist. Leporello, form. square 19 cm., 12 flaps plus cover (2.3 m flat). Text composed by hand in Romain du Roy typeface, printed on Velin BFK Rives 300 g. by the Art Book Workshop of the National Printing Office (casing).
For Shore of Punt (2012), by the Lebanese poet Salah Stetié, a different hieroglyph punctuates each stanza. “To complete the typographical exercise, the translator from the Imprimerie Nationale created the title in hieroglyphics. » The Land of Puntappears in accounts of ancient Egypt as a place of trade and commercewhere the Egyptians would go to stock up on rare foods. The poem is a mysterious dialogue between the East and the 'West.
Do not go near the windows / They open onto the world / And the world, surrounded by thefts, does not open. / The day is not up. / Noon has not moved. / Evening has not fallen.
This artist's book is part of Salah Stetié's donation to the Paul-Valéry Museum in Sète.
Salah Stétié and Barnard Alligand, Shore of Punt (212). 4 unpublished poems accompanied by original works: subjects photographed, digitized, retouched, printed on wallpaper by the artist, cut out of papyrus. Hieroglyphs typed and added to inked stamp. Original edition of 45 ex. numbered, signed by the author and the artist. Double-leaf book, form. square 18 cm, 32 p. more coverage. Text composed by hand in Granjean typeface, printed on Velin BFK Rives 300 g. by the Art Book workshop of the National Printing Office (casing).
The art of layout
“I put meeting and friendship at the center of my publications, I speak directly to authors and artists. I choose the format of the book and the cadence of the poem according to its internal rhythm. They give me their opinion. Then I send the model to the workshop. » Artists intervene directly on the white pages. Two kinds of art paper are used for FMA art editions: BFK Rives or Moulin du Gué in 250 or 300 grams. “The thickness of the support gives artists more freedom. I made this choice based on Bernard Alligand's work in the field. Concerning the Toros box set (2017), Robert Marteau's three chronicles on bullfights are available in three volumes, each illustrated by an artist. The layout of the texts takes up the main symbols: arena, horns of the bull, cape... From another planet by Bernard Alligand, Journey to Vic by Julius Baltazar and Otro toro by Gérard Eppelé, the sequel to Wounded Torero (2010) by the same author, inspired by the accident of José Tomàs in the bullring of Aguascalientes.
The discreet angel who stands on the balcony / And watches over you was briefly distracted.
Robert Marteau, Toros (2017) : Bernard Alligand, From another planet; Julius Baltazar, Journey to Vic; Gérard Eppelé, Otro toro. Original compositions by each artist on each volume. The work covers several techniques:carborundum engraving, photography, sand, sanguine and charcoal, ink, felt-tip pen, colored mine, gouache... First edition of 21 copies. numbered, signed by the author and the artist. Leporello, form. square 25 cm, 4.70 m long each. Texts composed in Didot font, printed in offset on Moulin du Gué 270 g. in 2 colors by Groupe Prenant (casing).
Françoise Maréchal-Alligand treats the title of most books as an iconography in its own right: “I try to translate its meaning into a sign to accentuate its resonance. For The apple and its pips, I was inspired by the typographic works of Kurt Schwitters discovered in his retrospective at the Centre G. Pompidou in 2014. »
The apple and its seeds (2016). After his stay in New York from where he brought back many photographs, Bernard Alligand sent the model to Michel Butor, proposing works composed of retouched photographs and digitally printed on painted support. A particular technique developed by the artist and giving a velvety appearance to black, as in Carré des Météores (2013). “In the manuscripts of La pomme et ses pépins, Michel had the idea of alternating verses in two-tone, already used for a bilingual poem in the 80s. this ingenious idea for publishing. »
Michel Butor and Bernard Alligand, The apple and its pips < /em>(2016). Unpublished poem accompanied by original works: initials, digitized photographs, retouched, printed on wallpaper by the artist, tracing paper, heightened gouache, stencil, cutouts and collage. Original edition of 45 ex. numbered, signed by the author and the artist. Double-leaf book, form. 16.5 x 12.5 cm, 18 p. more coverage. Text composed by hand in Gauthier typeface, printed in two colors on Velin BFK Rives 250 g. by the Art Book Workshop of the National Printing Office (casing).
Videos of readings and browsing
Although she cultivates exclusivity, aimed at a clientele of collectors and French-speaking public libraries, Françoise Maréchal-Alligand seeks to promote her books more widely: It may seem paradoxical, but I want everyone to the world has access to these marvelous books. Libraries and media libraries attach more and more importance to the mediation of their heritage collection. They create bridges between the arts, as in Caen or Avignon. I am committed to facilitating this openness to their audiences. » The editor produces and puts online on the site editionsdartfma.com and the YouTube channel the leafing through of artists' books as well as readings by the poets themselves: "The text takes on relief sound and musicality. Kenneth White gives theatrical readings that immerse us in his poem. »
In The Last Days of Audubon (2015), he recounts how the ornithologist and great naturalist painter, in search of birds, ended up disappearing into the far north fog (Fig. 13). The Great Gathering at Geographic Harbor (2017) imagines a congress of scientists with high titles who exchange their findings, surprised by the melting of 'a glacier: “Discourses are lost in convolutions. During this time, nature expresses itself and the glacier melts inexorably. » (Fig. 14) In the third book In Scandinavia produced in 2019, Kenneth White introduces into the staging of its playing the drum of the Saami people.
Kenneth White and Bernard Alligand, The Last Days of Audubon (2015). Unpublished prose accompanied by original works: stamping using the carborundum engraving technique. Highlight of black sand collected in Iceland by the artist, collage, addition of silver material and white acrylic. Original edition of 45 ex. numbered, signed by the author and the artist. Double-leaf book, form. 32.5 x 25 cm, 24 p. more coverage. Text composed by hand in Gauthier typeface, printed on Velin BFK Rives 250 g. and 300g. for the cover by the workshop of the Art Book of the National Printing Office (casing).
Kenneth White and Bernard Alligand, The Great Gathering at Geographic Harbor (2017). Unpublished prose accompanied by original works: carborundum engravings, black sand stamping, digitized illustrations and photographs, digital prints, acrylic paint, watercolor. Original edition of 30 ex. numbered, signed by the author and the artist. Leporello, form. 25 cm, unfolded 5.20 m long. Text composed in Didot type, printed in offset on Moulin du Gué 270 g. in 2 colors by Groupe Prenant (casing).
Kenneth White and Bernard Alligand, In Scandinavia (2019). Collection of 3 unpublished poems accompanied by original works: retouched photographs of minerals, rocks, digitized and printed on blue paper, tracing paper, cutouts and collage. Stamping using the carborundum etching technique. Original edition of 30 ex. numbered, signed by the author and the artist. Leporello, form. folded 12.5 x 16.5 cm, 18 flaps plus flap. Text composed by hand in Gauthier typeface, printed on Velin BFK Rives 250 g. by the Art Book workshop of the National Printing Office (casing).
Each author has their own unique way of reading their text. Michel Butor raises his voice and takes care to articulate well: Michel told me one day that his mother was deaf, which is why he spoke slowly and distinctly so that she could read his lips . As for Régine Detambel, the explorer of the therapeutic virtues of reading and writing, took as much pleasure in bringing her poems to life aloud as in writing them. Bernard Noël, meanwhile, deliberately adopts a tone without emphasis to read Trajet de l’oiseau (2018). "Georges Brassens said: my songs must seem to be spoken... I must not use musical tricks to divert attention from the text. Bernard Noël adopts a neutral tone so that we focus essentially on the meaning of the poem. »
Bernard Noël and Bernard Alligand, Bird's journey< /em> (2018). Unpublished poem accompanied by original works: stamping using the Carborundum engraving technique at the Pasnic workshop. Highlight of black sand collected in Iceland by the artist, collage, addition of silver material and white acrylic. Original edition of 30 ex. numbered, signed by the author and the artist. Double-leaf book, form. 32.5 x 25 cm, 24 p. more coverage. Text composed by hand in Gauthier typeface, printed on Velin BFK Rives 250 g. and 300g. for the cover by the workshop of the Art Book of the National Printing Office (casing).
But there is also the radio timbre of the voice, enveloping, which immerses us in the subject of the text. This is the case of the readings of Un dessein de beauté (2018) by Philippe Delaveau or even Celestial Nature (2019) by Jean-Pierre Geay.
Philippe Delaveau and Bernard Alligand, A design of beauty (2018). Unpublished poem accompanied by original works: details of still lifes from 17th century paintings photographed, digitized, retouched, printed on paper of different textures. Stamping using the carborundum etching technique. Original edition of 45 ex. numbered, signed by the author and the artist. Double-leaf book, form. 12.5 x 16.5 cm, 12 p. more coverage. Text composed by hand in Luce typeface, printed on Velin BFK Rives 250 g. by the Art Book workshop of the National Printing Office (casing).
Jean-Pierre Geay and Bernard Alligand, Heavenly nature (2019). Unpublished poem accompanied by original works: retouched photographs of landscapes and plants, digitized and printed on gold paper, tracing paper, paintings, cutouts and collage. Stamping using the carborundum etching technique. Original edition of 30 ex. numbered, signed by the author and the artist. Leaflet, form. 12.5 x 16.5 cm, 12 p. more coverage. Text composed by hand in Marcellin-Legrand typeface, printed in 2 colors blue and golden yellow on Velin BFK Rives 250 g. by the Art Book Workshop of the National Printing Office (casing).
Perspectives and acquisitions of works
The FMA art editions continue their epic with two new original editions.
The Mirror of Nobody by Lionel Ray and Bernard Alligand. Aragon was the first to recognize his literary talent. Lionel Ray, writer and essayist, is also one of the greatest French poets. “If I weren’t a writer, I would be an annalist or a watchmaker. I would take care of time, of which no one knows where it comes from, nor what it is. » Generous and inventive in his research of material effects, painter Bernard Alligand sublimates this collection of four poems with sensitive and spectacular compositions.
Lionel Ray and Bernard Alligand, Nobody's mirror (2020). 4 unpublished poems accompanied by original works: subjects photographed, digitized, retouched, printed on metallic paper. Cutouts and collages. Stamping using the carborundum engraving technique, heightened with silver powder, mixture of sand and resin. Original edition of 30 ex. numbered, signed by the author and the artist. Leaf book, form. 16 x 24 cm, 24 p. more coverage. The model and the drawings (title, half-title and chapter headings) were produced by the editor. Text composed in Roman Garamond type printed on white BFK Rives 250 g. on the printing presses of the Atelier d'art des Montquartiers in Issy-les-Moulineaux (casing).
One Stone - Klöpp from Sigurður Ingólfsson and Bernard Alligand was published in January 2021. Doctor of Modern Literature from Paul Valéry University in Montpellier, author of a thesis on Negative theology in poetry by Yves Bonnefoy, Sigurður Ingólfsson is one of the most beloved French-speaking Icelandic poets.
Sigurður Ingólfsson and Bernard Alligand, A stone - Klöpp (2021). Unpublished French/Icelandic poem accompanied by original works: carborundum engravings, collage of metallic paper, stamping of black and beige sands, collage of slate fragments, painting and heightening of mixed materials. Original edition of 30 ex. numbered, signed by the author and the artist. Leporello form. folded 17 x 12 cm, 10 p. more coverage. Text composed in LondonMM type printed on Moulin du Gué 270 g. at the Atelier d'art des Montquartiers in Issy-les-Moulineaux (casing).
This year, three new editions are being developed. Françoise Maréchal-Alligand renews her collaboration with Lionel Ray and continues to diversify its collection with new authors: Marc Alyn, writer and poet. He received numerous prizes for his poetry: Max-Jacob, Guillaume-Apollinaire, grand prize for poetry from the Académie française, SGDL, de Goncourt…
and Alain Freixe poet, winner of the Louis-Guillaume Prize in 2000.
Today, nearly twenty authors have participated in the collection of Éditions d'art FMA. Françoise Maréchal-Alligand prepares new large-scale projects by involving several artists, develops her editions in French-speaking countries and in the United States, and promotes her editions through meetings-exhibitions and thanks to digital tools.
The FMA Art Editions are visible in many institutions in France and in French-speaking countries.
Books are sold by specialized bookshops-galleries, including Claude and Paul Blaizot (Paris VIII) Arenthon (Paris VI) Laure Matarasso ( Nice) mchampetier.com (Cannes).
The price range for an artist's book is between €500 and 1 €500 incl. VAT.
For more information contact us!