Captures éditions

For the publication of this monograph, we have chosen to focus on the artist’s words. The book presents, in chronological order, works produced between 1970 and 2022, based on a precise selection by George Trakas. Each work is introduced by Trakas with notes, plans and technical plates, charcoal drawings and photographs that form the basis of a narrative punctuated by archive reproductions. Thus, Trakas’ proposal for Avalanche (1971), witness to a pioneering period in recent art history, puts a language and the fundamentals of his work into perspective. Texts by Kate Linker (1976), Sally Yard (1993) and an interview conducted by Chantal Pontbriand for Parachute (1978) provide us with a critical approach to his work: its phenomenological dimension and “the environmental junction and the spatial disjunction”. Several catalogue texts, either transcribed or reproduced, replace Trakas’ notes: Log Mass: Mass Curve / University of Massachusetts with Hugh M. Davies, Self Passage / Louisiana Museum of Modern Art with Michael Sheridan and Quai des Trois-Dents / Parc naturel régional du Pilat in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, with Pascale Soleil, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Valence.
This journey concludes with an interview between Joan Jonas and Trakas in the presence of his daughter Maggie, moderated by Alexis Lowry, at the time curator at Dia Art Foundation. These voices recall shared experiences in Downtown New York City – human and artistic experiences that some people look back on today with nostalgia – and with Catherine Grout’s text Initiating Movement that interacts with works seen throughout the book. She analyzes the relationship to the body, to space and to others that Trakas owes to dance, studied and practiced with Simone Forti and Yvonne Rainer among others.

With the support of:
Robert C. Ross and Jeanne Levan
Le Creux de l’Enfer, centre d’art contemporain
d’intérêt national, Thiers, France
Conseil régional Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France
Centre national des arts plastiques, Paris, France