History of the Universe
1985
Book, 22 x 15 cm, ill., 197 p, language : English, ISBN : 0-918825-12-1, publisher : Moyer Bell Limited/Nimbus Books.
Materials: ink, paper
Collection: Collection M HKA, Antwerp (Inv. no. B 2026/66).
Literary synopsis
Jennifer Bartlett’s first novel is a visual work that presents a series of memories, impressions, descriptions of individuals and snatches. In History of the Universe, her memories and fictions drift into stream-of-consciousness inventorie, where she captures the feeling of the legendary New York art scene of the 70's.
Relation of the novel to the artist’s practice
Klaus Ottmann, a curator at the Phillips Collection in Washington said he felt that the novel echoes how freely Ms. Bartlett can shift gears between abstraction and representation, control and exuberance, grids of steel plates and large-scale canvases. Jennifer Bartlett: History Of The Universe, is also an exhibition organized by the Parrish Art Museum. The exhibition is made up of works from 1970 to 2011. Some works on display are made up of dialogues, meticulously written from monumental times in her life, while others feature oil paintings of 24-hour snips of her life.
Authorship: Artist Author.
Creative Strategy: Artwork-Novel Parallel Lives.
Genre: Autobiography, Künstlerroman.
Publishing: Publishing House.
Theme: Art World, Death, Everyday Life, Love, Memory.