The Centre des livres d'artistes - CDLA (Center for Artist's Books) is a regional institution dedicated to the

artist's book Artists' books (or book arts or book objects) are works of art that utilize the form of the book. They are often published in small editions, though they are sometimes produced as one-of-a-kind objects. Overview Artists' books have employed a ...

since 1994 in

Limousin Limousin (; oc, Lemosin ) is a former administrative region of southwest-central France. On 1 January 2016, it became part of the new administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It comprised three departments: Corrèze, Creuse, and Haute-Vienn ...

, located in

Saint-Yrieix-la-Perche Saint-Yrieix-la-Perche (; oc, link=no, Sent Iriès, ) is a commune in the Haute-Vienne department, region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France. It is significant as the first place where kaolin was found in France, a discovery of great importance to Fr ...

, 40 km southwest of

Limoges Limoges (, , ; oc, Lemòtges, locally ) is a city and Communes of France, commune, and the prefecture of the Haute-Vienne Departments of France, department in west-central France. It was the administrative capital of the former Limousin region ...

Mission

The Centre des livres d'artistes serves both as a repository for a significant collection of artist's books in terms of quantity and quality, as well as an exhibition space. It is the only place in France that permanently showcases this type of publication. Since 2005, the CDLA has been located in a building in the historic center of the city, with three exhibition rooms, a space for the presentation of videos and audio documents, a storage area for the collection, a room for educational activities, and offices. Additionally, the Centre des livres d'artistes hosts artist residencies.

History

The CDLA's origins trace back to the First Biennial for Artist's Books, held in collaboration with the city of

Uzerche Uzerche (; oc, Usercha) is a commune in the Corrèze department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of central France. In 1787, the English writer Arthur Young described the town as "the pearl of the Limousin" because of its picturesque setting. ...

in 1989 through the partnership of the Pays-Paysage association founded by artist

Henri Cueco Henri Cueco (19 October 1929 – 13 March 2017) was a French painter, essayist, novelist and radio personality. As a self-taught painter, his work was exhibited internationally. He was the author of several books, including collections of essays a ...

in 1979. Over twelve editions, this biennial led to the creation of multiple catalogs. The CDLA is led by Didier Mathieu, who is also the founder of the Sixtus publishing house.

Exhibitions

The CDLA hosts up to four exhibitions per year featuring renowned international artists. Recently

Pol Bury Pol Bury (26 April 1922 – 28 September 2005) was a Belgian sculptor who began his artistic career as a painter in the Jeune Peintre Belge and COBRA groups. Among his most famous works is the fountain-sculpture L'Octagon, located in San Francis ...

(2022),

Carolee Schneemann Carolee Schneemann (October 12, 1939 – March 6, 2019) was an American visual experimental artist, known for her multi-media works on the body, narrative, sexuality and gender. She received a B.A. in poetry and philosophy from Bard College and ...

(2020),

Crass Crass were an English art collective and punk rock band formed in Epping, Essex in 1977, who promoted anarchism as a political ideology, a way of life, and a resistance movement. Crass popularised the anarcho-punk movement of the punk s ...

(2018),

Herman de Vries Herman de Vries (born 11 July 1931 in Alkmaar) is a Dutch artist. He typically stylises his name in lower-case as herman de vries on his artwork 'to avoid hierarchy'. De Vries works and lives with his wife Susanne in Eschenau near Knetzgau, Germ ...

(2015). An array of events, including artist talks, lectures, and expert panel discussions, highlight various aspects of artist's book practices.

Collections

As the third-largest collection in France in terms of both scale and quality (after the

Bibliothèque Nationale de France The Bibliothèque nationale de France (, 'National Library of France'; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites known respectively as ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository ...

and the

Bibliothèque Kandinsky The Kandinsky Library (or ''Bibliothèque Kandinsky'' in French) is a library of 20th and 21st century visual arts located at the Pompidou Centre in Paris, France. It also serves as the Documentation and Research Centre of the French National Mus ...

– Center Pompidou), the Centre des livres d'artistes collection currently comprises around 6000 works, encompassing books, magazines, posters, prints, postcards, CDs, and DVDs. This compilation represents 600 French and international artists. The collection boasts significant holdings, including an early 1960s

Fluxus Fluxus was an international, interdisciplinary community of artists, composers, designers and poets during the 1960s and 1970s who engaged in experimental art performances which emphasized the artistic process over the finished product. Fluxus ...

document collection, a vast assortment of publications by Dutch artist Herman de Vries (France's largest collection), an international concrete poetry compilation, and approximately thirty substantial sets dedicated to influential French and foreign artists who play a key role in the ongoing history of artist's books (

Eleanor Antin Eleanor Antin (née Fineman; February 27, 1935) is an American performance artist, film-maker, installation artist, conceptual artist and feminist artist. Early life and education Eleanor Fineman was born in the Bronx on February 27, 1935. Her pa ...

Ida Applebroog Ida Applebroog (born November 11, 1929) is an American multi-media artist who is best-known for her paintings and sculptures that explore the themes of gender, sexual identity, violence and politics. Applebroog has been the recipient of multiple ...

Irma Blank Irma Blank (1934 – 14 April 2023) was a German-born Italian artist. Her work, based on printed text that she transcribed in ink, has been described as "drawing languages without words" and thus "a form of communication beyond specific language ...

, Barbara Bloom,

Alighiero Boetti Alighiero Fabrizio Boetti known as Alighiero e Boetti (16 December 1940 – 24 February 1994) was an Italian conceptual artist, considered to be a member of the art movement Arte Povera. Background Boetti is most famous for a series of embroi ...

Marinus Boezem Marinus Lambertus van den Boezem (born 28 January 1934) is a Dutch artist. He is known for his radical view of art and his works in public space. Together with Wim T. Schippers, Ger van Elk and Jan Dibbets, Boezem is seen as one of the main repres ...

Christian Boltanski Christian Liberté Boltanski (6 September 1944 – 14 July 2021) was a French sculptor, photographer, painter, and film maker. He is best known for his photography installations and contemporary French conceptual style. Early life Boltanski wa ...

, Ulises Carrión,

Claude Closky Claude Closky (born 22 May 1963) is a French Contemporary Artist who lives and works in Paris, France. Reception Closky won the "Grand prix des Arts plastiques" (1999) and the Marcel Duchamp Prize (2005) awarded by the ADIAF. Dike Blair wro ...

Hanne Darboven Hanne Darboven (29 April 1941 – 9 March 2009) was a German conceptual artist, best known for her large-scale minimalist installations consisting of handwritten tables of numbers. Early life and career Darboven was born in 1941 in Munich. She gr ...

Mirtha Dermisache Mirtha Dermisache (21 February 1940 – 5 January 2012) was an Argentine artist whose works of asemic writing have been published and exhibited internationally at venues including the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris and MACBA in Barcelona, a ...

Hamish Fulton Hamish Fulton (born 1946) is an English walking artist. Since 1972 he has only made works based on the experience of walks. He translates his walks into a variety of media, including photography, illustrations, and wall texts. His work is containe ...

, Richard Long,

Annette Messager Annette Messager (born 30 November 1943) is a French visual artist. In 2005 she won the Golden Lion Award at the Venice Biennale for her artwork at the French Pavilion. In 2016, she won the prestigious Praemium Imperiale International Arts Award. ...

Olaf Nicolai Olaf Nicolai (born 1962 in Halle an der Saale) is a German conceptual artist. Life Olaf Nicolai grew up in Chemnitz (formerly Karl-Marx-Stadt) in the German Democratic Republic. From 1983 to 1988 he studied German language and literature at the u ...

Richard Nonas Richard Nonas (January 3, 1936 – May 11, 2021) was an American anthropologist and post-minimalist sculptor. He lived and worked in New York City. Education Nonas was educated in literature and anthropology at University of Michigan, Lafay ...

, Maria Nordman,

Martha Rosler Martha Rosler (born 1943) is an American artist. She is a conceptual artist who works in photography and photo text, video, installation, sculpture, and performance, as well as writing about art and culture. Rosler's work is centered on everyday ...

Dieter Roth Dieter Roth (April 21, 1930 – June 5, 1998) was a Swiss artist best known for his artist's books, editioned prints, sculptures, and works made of found materials, including rotting food stuffs. He was also known as Dieter Rot and Diter Rot. ...

, Claude Rutault,

Ben Vautier Ben Vautier, also known simply as Ben (born 18 July 1935 in Naples, Italy), is a French artist. Vautier lives and works in Nice, where he ran a record shop called ''Magazin'' between 1958 and 1973. Biography Benjamin Vautier was born on 18 Ju ...

Lawrence Weiner Lawrence Charles Weiner (February 10, 1942December 2, 2021) was an American conceptual artist. He was one of the central figures in the formation of conceptual art in the 1960s. His work often took the form of typographic texts, a form of word a ...

...).

Publications (selection)

The CDLA regularly produces artist's books, essays, monographic catalogs, and exhibition catalogs. * 2005:

''Les livres et les publications – Catalogue raisonné'' (+ CD-ROM), ISBN 978-2-9512638-3-3 * 2008:

, ''Libro n° 2: 1972'', * 2011: Claude Rutault, ''AMZ ou « le soleil brille pour tout le monde » dé-finition /méthode 169. 1985-87'', ISBN 978-2-917393-01-7 * 2012: Bernard Marcadé, Paul-Armand Gette, Djamel Meskache, ''Paul-Armand Gette ? Un goût certain pour la publication,'' * 2015: Peter Downsbrough, ''Then Set'', ISBN 978-2-917393-05-5 * 2017:

, ''Iluo'', ISBN 978-2-917393-08-6 * 2020:

Elsa Werth Elsa Werth (born 1985) is a French artist who lives and works in Paris. Biography Elsa Werth was born in 1985 in Paris, France. She graduated from both the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs where she studied film animation and É ...

, ''Un jour dans ''Le Monde'' (4 octobre 2019)'', ISBN 978-2-917393-11-6

References

External links

Official website of the CDLA
{{Authority control Artists' books Culture of Nouvelle-Aquitaine Cultural organizations based in France Contemporary art galleries in France Art museums and galleries in France