“I was inspired to do these drawings of snakes and butterflies by my reading of German art historian Aby Warburg’s writings. In the late part of the 19th century and early part of the 20th, he visited the southwest of America to experience the rich and beautiful culture of indigenous people in that area, namely the Hopi. In particular he wrote about the snake dance, and, because I myself had seen the snake dance in a Hopi pueblo in the 1960s, I was drawn to the fact that he found it a life-changing experience. Warburg was also confined for some years in a sanatorium, where he dreamed about butterflies. During production of my piece, The Shape the Scent the Feel of Things (2004-2007), which was inspired directly by Warburg’s writings, I began to draw in a small sketch book that had different colored pages. These drawings are a selection from that book”.
Joan Jonas, September 2023
Joan Jonas is a world-renowned artist whose work encompasses a wide range of media including video, performance, installation, sound, text, and sculpture. Joan’s experiments and productions in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s continue to be crucial to the development of many contemporary art genres, from performance and video to conceptual art and theatre. Since 1968, her practice has explored ways of seeing, the rhythms of rituals, and the authority of objects and gestures. Joan has exhibited, screened, and performed her work at museums, galleries, and in large scale group exhibitions throughout the world. She has recently presented solo exhibitions at Hangar Bicocca, Milan; NTU Centre for Contemporary Art, Singapore; the United States Pavilion for the 56th edition of the Venice Biennial; Tate Modern, London; TBA21 Ocean Space at the San Lorenzo Church, Venice; Serralves Museum, Porto; Dia Beacon, New York; and Haus der Kunst, Munich. In 2018, she was awarded the prestigious Kyoto Prize, presented to those who have contributed significantly to the scientific, cultural, and spiritual betterment of mankind. Joan is currently working on her retrospective to open at the Museum of Modern Art in March 2024.
2023
portfolio with nineteen prints and text by the artist
fine art pigment printed on handmade Amalfi paper
40 x 30 cm
the first forty copies are signed and numbered by the artist
on the colophon from 1/40 to 40/40
additional copies are signed and numbered on each plates
and on the colophon from I/X to X/X
Published by Noire Editions
