Rachel Valinsky invites seven artists from both sides of the Atlantic to share their views of Guy de Cointet, with contributions by Davide Balula, Eva Barto, Julie Béna, Jesse Chun, Jean-Pascal Flavien, Gordon Hall, Alan Reid.

Guy de Cointet was fascinated with language, which he explored primarily through performance and drawing. His practice involved collecting random phrases, words, and even single letters from popular culture and literary sources—he often cited Raymond Roussel’s novel Impressions of Africa as influential—and working these elements into non-linear narratives, which were presented as plays to his audience.

Produced on the occasion of the exhibition Guy de Cointet: Tempo rubato at Fundación/Colección Jumex, 3 December, 2012–14 February, 2013.

Guy de Cointet’s oeuvre, which includes drawings, publications, performance and film, intersects many of these areas of investigation, being at once performative, conceptual, minimalist, abstract and inspired by historic events, popular culture and mass media.

This publication includes a facsimile of the script for IGLU, a play he wrote in 1977, and its translation to Spanish.

Being at once a school and at the same time not a school, a workspace, the WT tends to want to comment on its own distinctive form of academic pursuit (by way of, amongst other outlets, these School Journals). And during this sometimes faltering, sometimes successful quest, I’ve often thought about Jacques Rancière’s Ignorant Schoolmaster. Five Lessons in Intellectual Emancipation, not least because it outlines an “intellectual adventure” whereby any hierarchy amongst the students and between them and their tutor dissolves.—Maxine Kopsa, ‘Editorial Considerations’ (excerpt)

Including the work of Guy de Cointet, Ian Hamilton Finlay, Scott Ponik, David Lieske, Stephen Willats, Na Kim, Morgan Fisher, Karl Nawrot, Boy Vereecken, Cecilia Costa, Joris Kritis, Julie Peeters.

Booklet published on the occasion of a 1996 exhibition commissioned by Paul McCarthy and featuring the work of three European artists exiled in California: Guy de Cointet, Bas Jan Ader and Wolfgang Stoerchle. The publication includes texts by McCarthy and Cornelia Butler, biographical and bibliographical notes

Guy de Cointet (American, b. France. 1934–1983) was fascinated with language, which he explored primarily through performance and drawing. His practice involved collecting random phrases, words, and even single letters from popular culture and literary sources—he often cited Raymond Roussel’s novel “Impressions of Africa” as influential—and working these elements into non-linear narratives, which were presented as plays to his audience.

Guy de Cointet (American, b. France, 1934–1983) was fascinated with language, which he explored primarily through performance and drawing. His practice involved collecting random phrases, words, and even single letters from popular culture and literary sources—he often cited Raymond Roussel’s novel “Impressions of Africa” as influential—and working these elements into non-linear narratives, which were presented as plays to his audience.

Paintings and works on paper would then figure prominently within these performances. In his play “At Sunrise A Cry Was Heard” (1976), a large painting depicting letters bisected by a white sash served as a main subject and prop, with the lead actress continuously referring to it and reading its jumble of letters as if it were an ordinary script. His drawings likewise are almost readable but just beyond comprehension.

Edited by Hugues Decointet, François Piron, Marilou Thiébault. Designed by Laure Giletti & Gregory Dapra.

Facsimile reissue of the original graphic poetry book self-published in 1975 by Guy de Cointet.

Guy de Cointet (American, b. France. 1934–1983) was fascinated with language, which he explored primarily through performance and drawing. His practice involved collecting random phrases, words, and even single letters from popular culture and literary sources—he often cited Raymond Roussel’s novel “Impressions of Africa” as influential—and working these elements into non-linear narratives, which were presented as plays to his audience.

Paintings and works on paper would then figure prominently within these performances. In his play “At Sunrise … A Cry Was Heard” (1976), a large painting depicting letters bisected by a white sash served as a main subject and prop, with the lead actress continuously referring to it and reading its jumble of letters as if it were an ordinary script. His drawings likewise are almost readable but just beyond comprehension.

De Cointet is recognized as one of the major figures in the Conceptual art movement that emerged in Los Angeles in the 1970s, having strongly influenced a number of prominent artists working in southern California today, including Paul McCarthy and Mike Kelley, for whom both drawing and performance figure significantly in their artistic practices.