Kiki Smith

The art of Kiki Smith is a meditation on the body. The American artist, born 1954, observes every aspect of corporeal materiality and the conditions shaping the time on earth of the body political, spiritual, domestic, fleshly, base, and universal. She uses a wide range of materials and craft techniques, but takes a particular interest in the fragility and expressive potential of paper and its resemblance to skin. Flesh is also suggested by wax and bronze in sculptures, often cast from living models including herself. This new monograph focuses on the sensory dimension of Kiki Smith's oeuvre that requires active percipience and a sharpening of our senses. Richly illustrated with around 100 of her drawings, prints, sculptures, and videos, the essays confront the reader with his or her own physicality and invites a reflection of our role within our entire environment. Text in English and French.