Understanding contemporary art through infographics

This Friday October 19 begins Art Basel Paris, formerly Ficac, the largest French contemporary art fair. On this occasion, many institutions and galleries offer events, openings or exhibitions to highlight contemporary creation. To support the emulation of this entire artistic ecosystem, a book has just been published by Editions du CNRS: Contemporary art – An infographic. This work by art historian Béatrice Joyeux-Prunel and data designer Guillemette Crozet, uses figures and data to address all the questions we ask about artists today. A way of demystifying contemporary art, understanding its issues and making it accessible, as Béatrice Joyeux-Prunel explains:

“This work is aimed at everyone because they are synthetic pages. I really thought of each page as a thesis. This is aimed at the general public and people who love art, but also at people who don’t know it well or who don’t like it but are curious. Hence this entry through very varied themes, both the works, the artists, as well as questions such as the place of oil in contemporary art, the question of the Anthropocene, or even all these competitions between countries. How have certain cities managed to exist on the international scene thanks to biennials?

A work which is also illustrated by its form since it is a series of infographics produced by data designer Guillemette Crozet. An original way of talking about contemporary art without showing works, but using visuals to format and illustrate the point of the book: “The data designer really does applied art and art applied to data. From there, there is a lot of room for creativity. You have to be able to think outside the box a little. But the main constraint is is the data. This allows us to revolve around these constraints and use them to start creating according to the problem and the issues.”

News of the day:

• The Afghan authorities have just announced that it will soon be banned from publishing photographs of living beings in the media. This new law will apply to the entire country. The Taliban consider in fact that this type of content is contrary to Sharia, the Islamic law that they restored in Afghanistan in August 2021. This censorship, already in place between 1996 and 2001, adds a new ban in a country where individual freedoms have been extremely restricted for three years.

• The Marcel Duchamp Prize was given yesterday to the visual artist, sculptor and photographer, Gaëlle Choisne. Through installations rich in references to Afro-identity, she uses materials collected during her travels to question the vestiges of colonialism and the question of the exploitation of peoples. Created in 2000, the prestigious Marcel Duchamp Prize rewards a contemporary French artist each year.

• On the occasion of Art Basel Paris, an ephemeral sculpture is inaugurated this Tuesday, October 15, 2024 at Place Vendôme. It is a work by the German artist Carsten Höller, Giant Triple Mushroomrepresenting a mushroom, a hybrid form between a Santa Claus and a fly agaric. A work which recalls the presence of a nature absent from the city as explained by the artist. This sculpture will be visible until November 24.