Éric Troncy's 'Auteur d'exposition' concept critiqued through Coollustre exhibition

In a 2003 art press opinion piece, Christophe Kihm critiques the concept of 'auteur d'exposition' (exhibition author) as embodied by Éric Troncy's exhibition Coollustre at the Collection Lambert in Avignon (May 25 – September 28, 2003). The exhibition was widely praised by French media, in contrast to the 50th Venice Biennale (curated by Francesco Bonami) which was largely disparaged. Kihm argues that Coollustre functions as a manifesto for the curator as author, transferring authority from artworks to their arrangement. Troncy employs narrative and dramatic staging, creating visual vignettes that tell stories, akin to a comic strip or film. His models include novelist Bret Easton Ellis (American Psycho) and curator Harald Szeemann (When Attitudes Become Form, 1969; Grand-Père, 1974), though Kihm notes that Szeemann focused on artistic procedures while Troncy engages in a 'sympathetic semiology.' The piece also references Katharina Fritsch's Tischgesellschaft as a centerpiece that validates the curatorial approach. Kihm concludes that the 'death of the author' proclaimed by structuralism paradoxically enables everyone to claim authorship, but regrets that the detective-like investigative work of curating is neglected.