Rachel, Monique…

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First edition of Rachel, Monique… by Sophie Calle (2017)

First impression in new condition

Flat signed by Sophie Calle to front end page

Published by Editions Xavier Barral

About Rachel, Monique…

“She was called successively Rachel, Monique, Szyndler, Calle, Pagliero, Gonthier, Sindler” this reads the first lines of the book, also embroidered on the cover. “My mother liked people to talk about her. Her life did not appear in my work, and so that annoyed her. When I set up my camera at the bottom of the bed in which she lay dying – fearing that she would pass away in my absence, whereas I wanted to be present and hear her last words – she exclaimed, ‘Finally.'” This book tells the story of Monique Szyndler, Sophie Calle’s mother who died in 2007.

From family albums, the artist selected diary excerpts and photographs. Described as “haunting” and also “a mystery novel that tirelessly searches for a missing person,” the Rachel Monique project honors a daughter’s complicated relationship with her mother and the artist’s deeply felt grief. So, this volume was designed in close collaboration with the artist. It presents Calle’s installation of the project at the Palais de Tokyo. The cover text is embroidered in order to create a precious object. Also, all of the texts relating to the installation are beautifully embossed. This is a highly personal and moving book, intimate as well as universal in its expressions of mourning and memory.

Related Links

More books by Sophie Calle here.

More books by Editions Xavier Barral here.