Luxury, Sensation and the Moving Image
Alice Blackhurst
Moving Image 13•10 December 2021
- ‘IT SITS THERE like a pale gemstone on your lap: the tall, slim, Instagrammable volume you waited for. You hold it close, you hold it tight (bluish-green, mauvish-gray), and you take a quick snapshot with your iPhone. On the cover, a redhead Delphine Seyrig is washing up, slowly massaging the nape of her neck with a striped flannel, an undeniably luscious caress. Quickly, friends ignite small fires under your post. They too know you’re going to read this work on Chantal Akerman, Annie Ernaux, Louise Bourgeois, and Sophie Calle. The title is enticing, promising: Luxury, Sensation and the Moving Image. So chic, so niche, so feminist. Le feu!’ — Adèle Cassigneul, Los Angeles Review of Books 4 May 2023
- ‘Her corpus is comprised of four artists, all women, with a chapter devoted to each: Chantal Akerman, Annie Ernaux, Louise Bourgeois, and Sophie Calle. [...] Her four artists are a formidable group to consider together, and I applaud attention to a sampling of these fascinating works: Akerman’s Je tu il elle and Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai de Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles; Ernaux’s Passion simple and Se Perdre; Bourgeois’s soft sculptures, as well as some ofher bronzes and plaster works, and her Insomnia Drawings; and Calle’s Suite vénitienne, Douleur exquise and Prenez soin de vous. Blackhurst’s project embraces theoretical positivity that rests on citation of Gilles Deleuze and Jean-Luc Nancy, philosophers who bring creative positive energy to reimagining thought.’ — Maureen Turim, H-France 23 (August 2023), no. 138