[Critique] “Monuments”, Vanessa Bell and Kéven Tremblay

Superb, intelligently edited book that crosses territories and emotions. Vanessa Bell’s texts, first numbered from 1 to 8, then titled from “a” to “h”, are very dense, in a broken form, so open is their meaning. This distribution is not arbitrary since the first series of texts, printed in white on a black background, follows the rhythm of the always very beautiful photographs, often in black and white. Will follow the second part of the texts printed black on white, accompanying photos, this time color, of Kéven Tremblay. This passage from night to day, from an insidious darkness to a clarity of vision, is very successful. In text “c”, Vanessa Bell declares: “to pick like to write like to die is an act of love and to love pulls us out beyond the rocks”. The perfect symbiosis between iconography and writing is essential, the images carrying their dark side in the same way as the hesitations of the poems. Let us also underline the beauty of this book cared for by the editors.

Landmarks

★★★★

Vanessa Bell, with photographs by Kéven Tremblay, Le Noroît, Montreal, 2022,

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