Artist library: another possibility

Abstract

From the works “Requiem” (2013) by Emilio Chapella, “Scultura de d´'ombra” (2009) by Claudio Parmiggiani, “Missing Names” (2013) by Patricia Osses, “Flying Books - homenaje a Borges” (2012) by Christian Boltanski and “Biblioteca del bosque”, by Miguél Ángel Blanco (2002 -), we intend to reflect on the library's presence in the visual arts. From the 1990s onwards, there is an intense volume of works whose interest is the library. Poetically called “artist libraries”, this notion describes works produced by artists from or in the space of a library. Using the most different supports, many of these works are described as installation, photography, artist's book, painting, drawing, video and other known media. The library has also become a territory of subversion, imagination and poetization in contemporary times.