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Balthus : Oeuvres, écrits et entretiens

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The author Mieke Bal, specializing in the theories of art and culture, is a professor at the Royal Academy of Arts and Sciences of Holland, University of Amsterdam. This book recreates Balthu's hunting down the invisible experience, with extreme attention to the plastic virtues of his painting. Sleeping nudes, enigmatic cats, little girls with bare thighs, his themes are radicalized, ever more ambiguous, to the point of making the painter pass for a pervert.

Hardcover

First published June 1, 2008

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About the author

Mieke Bal

122 books56 followers
Mieke Bal is a Dutch literary theorist, cultural and art historian.

Areas of interest range from biblical and classical antiquity to 17th century and contemporary art and modern literature, feminism and migratory culture. Her many publications include A Mieke Bal Reader (2006), Travelling Concepts in the Humanities (2002) and Narratology (4th edition 2017). Her view of interdisciplinary analysis in the Humanities and Social Sciences is expressed in the profile of what she has termed “cultural analysis”, the basis of ASCA. See the video clip on the right side of this page, where I explain the approach.

Mieke is also a video artist, her internationally exhibited documentaries on migration include Separations, State of Suspension, Becoming Vera and the installation Nothing is Missing and are part of the Cinema Suitcase collective. With Michelle Williams Gamaker she made the feature film A Long History of Madness, a theoretical fiction about madness, and related exhibitions (2012). Her following project Madame B: Explorations in Emotional Capitalism, also with Michelle, is exhibited worldwide. She just finished a feature film and 5-screen installation on René Descartes and his infelicitously ending friendship with Queen Kristina of Sweden.

Occasionally she acts as an independent curator. Her co-curated exhibition 2MOVE travelled to four countries. She is currently preparing an exhibition for the Munch museum in Oslo.

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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
Profile Image for George.
50 reviews8 followers
May 23, 2010
First class study of his work and its possible meanings.
16 reviews1 follower
November 30, 2015
A book written in clear English is always preferable to "art-speak". This book is in "art-speak" which I find to be the language of those less confident in themselves as scholars of art.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews

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