Why do artists write novels? What does the artist’s novel do to the visual arts? How should such a novel be experienced? In recent years, there has been a proliferation of visual artists who create novels as part of their wider art projects. They do so in order to address artistic issues by means of novelistic devices, favouring a sort of art predicated on process and subjectivity, introducing notions such as fiction, narrative, and imagination. In this sense, it is possible to speak of a new medium in the visual arts; yet, very little is known about it.

Join us for an evening of discussion, performance, and sharing across disciplines during the launch of David Maroto’s The Artist’s Novel: The Novel as a Medium in the Visual Arts (Mousse Publishing, 2020). This two-volume book is the first to explore in depth the subject of the artist’s novel.

Accompanying David in the discussion, writer and curator Yann Chateigné Tytelman will examine the different ways contemporary artists have employed the artist’s novel, and its impact on the curatorial and institutional context in which it appears.

Artist Cally Spooner will carry out a reading performance from her new artist’s novel in progress, Dead Time – which will serve as a springboard to discuss notions of fiction and performativity.

Writer and critic Chris Kraus will engage in conversation with David on the introduction of fictocritical writing practices in contemporary art, and the emergence of hybrid textual strategies.

This is a free event. Reservation is required.