Engraving Night - Kiki Smith 2006

Since 1989, the Musée du Louvre and the Réunion des Musées Nationaux have entrusted contemporary artists with the task of producing engraved plates for the Chalcographie, which is responsible for the exclusive printing of the plates, with no limit on the number of prints.

Very different trends in contemporary...

Since 1989, the Musée du Louvre and the Réunion des Musées Nationaux have entrusted contemporary artists with the task of producing engraved plates for the Chalcographie, which is responsible for the exclusive printing of the plates, with no limit on the number of prints.

Very different trends in contemporary art are represented. Geneviève Asse rubs shoulders with Georg Baselitz, Pierre Courtin, Jean-Pierre Pincemin, Pat Steir, Jean-Michel Alberola, Robert Morris, Louise Bourgeois, Markus Raetz, Pierre Alechinsky or Agathe May.

Born in Germany, Kiki Smith grew up in a family of American artists. She sees artistic creations as physical manifestations for reflecting on and experiencing the self and the universe. Her drawings, sculptures, engravings and tapestries are imbued with a mysticism that leaves room for diverse beliefs. Many of them depict women, saints or fairytale heroines. For her, the entire history of the world lies in the body, which she has been depicting ever since she discovered anatomy books as a child. These bodies are regularly integrated into a cosmology with the repeated motif of the star. She calls herself a "vagabond" artist, accustomed to sharing creative spaces in the public domain. Rather than in a studio, she regularly works in foundries or printing works. These different locations enable her to immerse herself in the practices and their history. Forging relationships with art masters feeds her work, as it did for Nocturne.