Great Art: Sophie Calle’s late 90’s The Life Of Maria

Seems I’ve just blogged about some abstract artists I dig, here’s one conceptual artist and most likely my fave. I do think conceptual art drives people away but please give a go just for today, OK? I’ve picked some of her more entertaining and maybe amusing artworks too. Quickly to some up conceptual art, if you don’t get it? It’s just artists ideas really and that’s it but presented in non-traditional painting or sculpture way, they just love the ideas really. So in Calle’s case it leads her into being a writer, photographer and installation artist.

These are two artworks based about a novel she asked an author to write for her. So here Sophie Calle got Paul Auster to “invent a fictive character which I would attempt to resemble” he wrote Leviathan and published in 1992 which then what she did was later well documented in her own book entitled Double Game published in 1999. Today’s blog post is pretty much about the very first couple in that book.

The first seven artworks below is The Chromatic Diet which Auster writes: “Some weeks, she would indulge in what she called ‘the chromatic diet,’ restricting herself to foods of a single color on any given day.” Then the final artwork below is just one from Days Under The Sign of B, C & W which Sophie herself explains “the portrait of BB, who in recent years has taken preference for the cause of animals to the point of caricature.” BB if your not following is Brigitte Bardot, you know?

Sophie Calle is a French living artist, born in Paris 1953 and oh, I better say Paul Auster is an American author based in New York city and made a couple of feature films too. All artworks are photography showing Calle days in The Life Of Maria of the late 90’s. It’s also the very first time photo artworks have been included in this set posts about my fave artists.

sophiesunday1 — Sunday: orange, red, white, yellow & pink, 1997

fiction4_sophie_calle — B for Big-time Blonde Bimbo, 1998

So after a couple days off blogging I’m back, it’s back to back French artists in my art posts I’ve just notices too! I’ll stick to the B letter theme with Brigitte Bardot’s Bubblegum song to close the post today!