Je/Nous [Exhibition catalogue] [Bruxelles, Musée d’Ixelles, 23 mai-13 juillet 1975] – 1975

Description

Bruxelles, Musée d’Ixelles,, 1975
Softcover, 34 x 28 cm, unpaginated, illustrated throughout in color and black and white. Text in French.

Important catalogue for a formative exhibition in Brussels, but one that is not yet recognised as such. See list below for a full list of artists and contributors. With a lengthy and unusual contribution by Daniel Buren (for the result, we refer to the Daniel Buren website) and On Kawara. The rest of the artists as per usual. Good to know: this catalogue is often offered as Je – Nous = Ik – Wij, as per the title on the cover of the catalogue. The ephemera should relieve any doubt as it only mentions Je/Nous and Ik/Wij is just the translation of the title. An exhibition that deserves further study, for a longer text, we refer to this text by Bernard Marcelis. 

The exhibition “je/nous” was organized in collaboration with Harald Szeemann, and on the occasion of the exhibition (and also as a fundraiser) the magazine POUR made the infamous SALTO ARTE box. This project was an effort by Isi Fiszman to help alleviate the  financial situation of POUR editor Jean-Claude Garot.  The box had a total of 31 artists participating with various prints and editions. A regular edition of 1000 copies was offered for sale at 3.000 FB (75 dollars) and the deluxe edition of 100 copies at 15.000 FB (375 dollars). An edition of 28 copies was also available, each containing an original work by one of the artists.  The actual box ended up with works by 31 artists (if one can find a complete box that is).

Je-Nous as per the invitation card was a(n)
exposition d’art d’aujourd’hui
tentoonstelling van kunst van heden
to-day art exhibition
ausstellung von kunst von heute

A full list of artists/participants in the exhibition: Anatol Herzfeld, Carl Andre, Richard Artschwager, Iginio Balderi, Ben Vautier, Daniel Buren, Christian Boltanski, James Lee Byars, Jacques Charlier, Johannes Cladders, Christo, Roy Colmer,  Committee for Artistic Freedom, Pierre Daquin, Hanne Darboven, Walter De Maria, Öyvind Fahlström, Robert Filliou, Hans Haacke, P.A. Hubert, Douglas Huebler, Jörg Immendorff, On Kawara, Edward Kienholz, Kasper König, Jean Le Gac, Sol LeWitt, Bernd Lohaus, Konrad Lueg-Fischer, Ingeborg Luscher, Annette Messager, Nicola, Hermann Nitsch, Yoko Ono, Panamarenko, A.R. Penck, Jacques Pineau, Sigmar Polke, Kathrin Steffen, Achim Duchow, Astrid Heibach, Kaka Lemoine, Siggi Kraus, Lucky Luke und sein freund, Arnulf Rainer, Katharina Sieverding, Klaus Staeck, Richard Tuttle, Toni, Paul Van Rafelghem, Hubert Vilopox and Lawrence Weiner.

(note: We have adjusted the spelling of some names in order to be consistent with our tag system. Some artists have faded into obscurity, but most have continued to work under the same name (or a slightly different name). The name Konrad Lueg-Fischer now appears twice as Konrad Lueg and Konrad Fischer and Staeck has been adjusted to Klaus Staeck. The Committee for Artistic Freedom is Jean Toche and Jon Hendricks)

We join:

1. The recto only invitation (21.5 x 10.5 cm)  for  the exhibition , with the list of participants in the original spelling. Signed in red pen by Joseph Beuys. 
2. The recto only invitation on tissue paper (21.5 x 10.5 cm) for the opening of the exhibition. Text in Dutch/French.
3. A recto only list of artists who participated. in the exhibition “je/nous”, with a (c) behind the name if they participated in the circus evening.
4. A black and white foldout subscription form for the SALTO ARTE box. Uncut and not claimed.

Ref. Pas, Johan, Geert Lernout, and Anne Thurmann-Jajes. Artists’ Publications: The Belgian Contribution. London: Koenig Books, 2017. pag. 93 and 97.

The catalogue itself is in rough shape. The spine with a tear and a lot of wear, the wrappers discolored and with (almost) missing corners. The usual discoloration throughout, but also water damage affecting the back cover and last pages. The other items very good.