RUSTIQUE
Artist book, 2022
17,5 x 24 cm, 64 pages
Offset, hardcover
English
Edition: 250
Published by Ness Books
RUSTIQUE is an artist book that revisits the life and work of French painter Jean-François Millet (1814-1875) through the lens of Swedish-Canadian visual artist Nicola Godman (1989- ). The project is sprung out of a residency at Hôtel Chevillon, a former Scandinavian artist colony in Grez-sur-Loing, France. Barbizon, the village Millet lived and died, is located 20 km away from there. The book interweaves the life and work of Millet with Godman’s photographs, drawings and personal anecdotes. RUSTIQUE wishes to put forward the artistic gaze towards rural life by artists who themselves are born peasants. Included as an appendix is a facsimile of the article “CITY VS. COUNTRY: The Rural Image in French Painting from Millet to Gauguin” written by American art historian Robert L. Herbert and published in Artforum 1970.
Graphic design: Émilie Ferrat - Espace Ness
Photo documentation: ©The Book Photographer
TEMPORARY COUNTRY LIFE
Project 2018-2019
10 day performance
21 x 30 cm, 20 pages
Offset
English
Performance and publication made in relation to the pop-up park Zomerpark in Amsterdam's business district the Zuidas. For the duration of ten days, the character Zuidas Cowboy investigated country culture in and around Zomerpark.
The publication tells the story of Zuidas Cowboy's sejour, with contributions by feminist art critic Sietske Roorda and historian Maarten Zwiers. Design by Bram van den Berg.
Photo documentation: ©The Book Photographer