Viviane Sassen – författare

From her early African-inspired work to her more recent experiments in interventionist techniques, Viviane Sassen has gained international acclaim for her striking, dynamic images that explore a range of themes and subjects—from identity, gender, and the body, to race, fashion, and the environment.This retrospective book brings together both well- and lesserknown works and includes pieces from her recent series, “Paint Studies,” in which early photographs are reimagined with ink and painterly marks, and “Venus and Mercury,” a collection of exquisite photomontages based on the history of the Palace of Versailles. An introductory essay and interview with the artist combine with additional illuminating texts to make this the definitive overview of an important and ever-evolving photographer.

“Alchemy is the attempt to build a world in which every thing is the mind and the hand of something other. A world where everything breathes and yearns in unison. ”Modern Alchemy is the brainchild of Viviane Sassen and Emanuele Coccia. The photographer and the philosopher—both leading figures in their fields—weaved together images and words, engaging in a fruitful dialogue deeply rooted in the Champagne terroir and the inspiring relationship Maison Perrier-Jouët entertains with art and nature. “Art and nature are not only equivalent but that they are also twins born from the same mother. ”A series of 80 photographs and an essay intersect and collide, creating a space where the creativity of matter throughout all living things can be marveled at anew. Pictures mix and match with ideas, the history of planet Earth encounters that of artistic creation, and matter joins hands with the mind—producing an infinitely manifold work of art and establishing a modern alchemy where both vision and thought can be upended and renewed. “As long as matter exists, nothing can prevent it from irreparably transforming everything around it. Such art imbues everything: each reality is more of an artist than a form. ”

Folio is a collection of photographs that illustrates the birth of Dutch artist Viviane Sassen’s visual language. All of the images presented in this work were taken in the mid-1990s, when she was just embarking on her career as a photographer.Favouring a spontaneous and personal approach, Sassen uses her immediate surroundings and environment as her preferred subjects. These images reflect a taste for staging, framing, and perspective that she delopped early on. These stylistic tools allow her to incarnate the strange and even disturbing aspects at the heart of everything we deem familiar. Initially conceived as a book project, the work would go on to be published years later, following the photographer’s encounter with Note Note Éditions.