Bernard Ollier's Erasure Drawings and Literary Works at Paris Arts Décoratifs

Bernard Ollier presents an exhibition at the Bibliothèque des Arts Décoratifs in Paris from March 17 to May 14, showcasing his 'erasure drawings' and literary works. Since the 1970s, Ollier has created drawings that involve filling or saturating paper, alongside writing books intrinsically linked to his graphic gestures. The exhibition explores the intersection of writing and painting, incorporating library books into installations that reconstruct famous paintings. Ollier draws inspiration from Jules Maciet's 19th-century iconographic encyclopedia, creating his own thesaurus from his unpublished novels. His works include large-format graphite drawings made on the floor, where he physically engages with the paper, and 'Portraits of Regards' series using photography overlaid with graphite to obscure the image, emphasizing the gaze. A 2008 fire destroyed many of his works, leading to his 'Complete Works' project—a text-only catalogue raisonné listing all his pieces since childhood.