Since the Renaissance, the book in art has symbolized knowledge, with the codex—both as an object and a concept—becoming a metonym for scholarship and learning. In the digital age, where text is increasingly detached from its printed medium, Tornabuoni Art Paris will present The Book. Object Between Memory and Symbol from April 10, a project bringing together a selection of Italian and international artists who have explored the book not only for its literary content but also for its symbolic value. Aiming to offer a broad international panorama of the use of books in contemporary art, the exhibition will feature works by Vincenzo Agnetti, Alighiero Boetti, Jean Boghossian, Pascal Convert, Chiara Dynys, Emilio Isgrò, Anselm Kiefer, Giulio Paolini, Claudio Parmiggiani, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Yinka Shonibare, and Chen Zhen.
Spanning from the 1960s to the present day, the selection of works highlights the diversity and innovation with which these artists have incorporated books into their artistic practice. Whether physically present or merely suggested, transformed in form and materiality, or reimagined as a vessel for reinvented knowledge, each work engages with the book through different techniques and sensibilities.
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Classifying the Thousand Longest Rivers in the World (1977) by Alighiero Boetti reflects the artist’s fascination with systems of knowledge classification, while Emilio Isgrò’s cancellature explore how the act of erasure can transform meaning, as seen in Sopra un fiore (1971) and his recent intervention on Romeo and Juliet. Vincenzo Agnetti takes this idea further with Libro dimenticato a memoria (1969), completely removing the text and questioning the preservation or oblivion of knowledge. Through his British Library Collections, Yinka Shonibare creates libraries in which each book is covered in Batik fabric, offering a reflection on Britain’s diverse population. The library on display focuses on cinema, highlighting the impact of migration on the film industry.
Anselm Kiefer, with Für Paul Celan (2004), pays tribute to the poet and translator by embedding the weight of Holocaust memory into the very material of the book. Claudio Parmiggiani evokes remembrance through his spectral imprints of libraries in Sans titre (Dittico con libri) (2004), one of his iconic Delocazioni that embodies his poetic exploration of time’s passage.
In Le Chemin / Le Radeau de l’écriture (1991), Chen Zhen presents books wedged between railway sleepers and stones, rendering them unreadable and silent. Chiara Dynys, on the other hand, transforms books into structures of glass and plastic, inscribing them with dualities such as whole/hole or memory/oblivion, prompting a reflection on perception and meaning.
Without claiming to provide an exhaustive analysis of the presence of books in art—an ever-relevant theme—the exhibition offers the Parisian public a glimpse into the richness and diversity of how books are integrated into contemporary artistic practice. By establishing a dialogue between historic works by major Italian artists and international figures, The Book. Object Between Memory and Symbol reaffirms Tornabuoni Art’s commitment to promoting artists traditionally associated with its programming while broadening its scope toward a more international perspective.
The exhibition will also enhance the 2025 programming of Italissimo (April 1–6, 2025), the Italian Literature Festival in Paris, offering further exploration of the book as a cultural and artistic object. Essential loans and documents have been generously provided by the Archivio Vincenzo Agnetti, the Archivio Alighiero Boetti, and prestigious private collections.
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