Anne Dagbert's Critical Writings Collected in New Anthology

A new anthology titled 'Une espérance à travers la nuit' compiles around twenty critical texts by Anne Dagbert, a longtime contributor to artpress, Flashart, Artforum, and art absolument, as well as author of numerous exhibition catalogues. The selection is organized thematically rather than chronologically, showcasing Dagbert's wide-ranging interests across creative forms. In her preface, she describes her role as a 'passeur' (passer), aiming to convey the artist's universe and intentions to the viewer/reader. The collection reveals her deep commitment to artists such as Gérard Garouste, Marc Couturier, and Jean Le Gac, and through analyses of works by Gina Pane, Jim Dine, and Mâkhi Xenakis, as well as interviews with Anne and Patrick Poirier and Philippe Cognée, an aesthetic line emerges: Dagbert seeks to avoid 'spectacularly easy images' in favor of 'works imbued with a presence that reifies.' Underlying the texts is a progression toward considerations of the spiritual and sacred. To enrich her discourse, she calls upon curators and writers including Laurence Sigal, Jean-Hubert Martin, and Philippe Sollers. The anthology leaves a sense of incompleteness, and the hope of finding an 'intense intention'—to borrow Harald Szeemann's term dear to Dagbert—is not always fulfilled, but this is seen as inherent to the exercise of passage.