Roselyne Bachelot-Narquin, Minister of Culture, was saddened to learn of the passing of the great visual artist Christian Boltanski.
A self-taught artist, Christian Boltanski began painting at a very young age and made many canvases depicting historical scenes. He then abandoned painting and expressed himself through many artistic disciplines, including writing, video, photography and installations. He presented his first exhibition in 1968 with human-sized puppets and a film entitled "The Impossible Life".
Marked in his childhood by the Shoah, his rich and eclectic work testifies to his obsession with the fight against oblivion and disappearance. He will create visual and sound installations with objects that did not belong to him but that he appropriates to restore a moment of life and witness the traces that each leaves after his death. These huge ephemeral installations seize the spectators and provoke intense emotions.
Thus, during the event "Monumenta", in January 2010 at the Grand Palais, he presented People, a giant installation composed of stacked clothes, evoking the memory of the Holocaust.
In 2011, he represented France at the Venice Biennale with an impressive metal ribbon that unfolds an infinite number of infant faces.
His last major exhibition entitled “Faire son temps”, presented at the Centre Pompidou in 2019-2020, allowed him to wander through his work.
Internationally renowned artist, he installed permanent works around the world, notably in Japan with The Archives of the Heart, and in Australia with The Last Years of CB.
Christian Boltanski was a Knight of the Legion of Honour and Commander of Arts and Letters.
Roselyne Bachelot-Narquin extends her sincere condolences to his wife Annette Messager, his family and loved ones.