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Cécile GuilbertFrance

© J. Sassier

Cécile Guilbert writes essays, novels and literary criticism. Written with great freedom of tone, her highly personal and polymorphous work surveys the heritage of noted artists and writers. In Sans entraves et sans temps morts (with neither barriers nor time out, 2009), she shares her views on writing in a collection of brilliantly bold, ambitious literary essays. She was awarded the prix Médicis for her essay Warhol spirit (Grasset, 2008).

The author

Bibliography

Animaux & Cie [Animals & Cie], with Nicolas Guilbert (Grasset, 2010)Cinquante lettres du Marquis de Sade à sa femme [Fifty Letters from the Marquis de Sade to His Wife] (Flammarion, 2009)Sans entraves et sans temps mort [With No Barriers Nor Time Out] (Gallimard, 2009]Warhol Spirit (Grasset, 2008) (Prix Médicis of the essay 2008)L’Écrivain le plus libre [The Freest Writer] (Gallimard, 2004)Le Musée national [The National Museum] (Gallimard, 2000)Pour Guy Debord [For Guy Debord] (Gallimard, 1996) Saint-Simon ou L’encre de la subversion [Saint-Simon or the Ink of Subversion] (Gallimard, 1994)

Zoom

What is a writer today? A body that can move through time, covering as many theaters of operations as possible while finding something to reflect on everywhere. In parks, cafes, and museums. Among libertines, surrealists, and rock stars. In the Baroque period, the Enlightenment, and the society of the spectacle. Through film, fashion, and especially literature.For depth is not the opposite of superficial, nor gravity the opposite of lightness any more than the present is the opposite of

the past.In fifty essays of impressive combativeness and erudition, Cécile Guilbert develops a very clear view of an art that is simultaneously the art of tasting, reading, seeing, smelling, listening, touching and loving—unfettered and without stopping. Because the point is above all to live and enjoy.

Reviews

«It’s impossible not to be struck by Guilbert’s extremely coherent ideas and style. Taken separately, these articles are brilliant exercises. Read as a whole, they constitute a formidable war machine to combat contemporary stupidity, intellectual vulgarity, and the merchandizing of the world.»

Joseph Macé-Scaron, Marianne

«Through her likes and dislikes, with an elegance and at a distance uncommon today, Cécile Guilbert reveals not only herself, but an esthetic and political attitude towards life.»

Nelly Kaprièlian, Les Inrockuptibles

Sans entraves et sans temps mort [With No Barriers Nor Time Out] (Gallimard, 2009]

«The key to this collection’s obvious coherence is quite simply Cécile Guilbert’s way of looking at things, a remarkable, salutary mix of keen intelligence and impertinence, unabashed elitism and clear non-conformism. She gives us a thousand things to think about in this incredibly stimulating book of readings that is nothing short of a how-to of savoir-vivre in the deepest sense: “Take it and read it: the greatest freedom—and the greatest luxury—is in here.”»

Nathalie Crom, Télérama

Beyond the Hippocratic OathSunday October 14th 2012 / Power House Arena bookstore

/ 2 An event created and organized by the Villa Gillet - 25 rue Chazière - 69004 Lyon - France

Tel : 00 33 (0)4 78 27 02 48 - Fax : 00 33 (0)4 72 00 93 00 - www.villagillet.net

Who really was Andy Wa-rhol (1928-1987), the Ame-rican artist of Czechoslo-vakian origin? Prophet? Imposter? Monster? Cre-tin? Wiseman? Paradoxi-cal theologian? The most authentic artist of the 20th century? He himself clai-med to be a “machine,” “surface,” or “mirror”: that

is, he wanted any investigation into who he was to be dangerous. And Cécile Guilbert faces this danger (of ecstasy or denigration) magnificently here. This book constitutes a surprise attack on all that has already been said or written about the illustrious painter-photographer-writer-model that Warhol was. A “Tomb”—in the sense of the literary genre—is built for him here: his obsession with death lends itself to this, as does the triumph of nihilism in contemporary society. In fragments and Warholian subtleness, Cécile Guilbert offers a counter-assessment of this militant, practicing Catholic. Neither bio-graphy nor essay, this text, as paradoxical as Warhol himself, tries to clarify every facet of his kaleidoscopic work. It includes twenty chapters serving as tombstones and combining to “re-vive” Warhol, an opportunist and cynic who was superficial, globalized—and fantastic.

«Cécile Guilbert’s subtle demonstration is based on her intimate knowledge of Warhol’s work and his numerous writings. She does not ignore his biography, and above all takes the liberty of making improbable but highly fertile connections . . . that shed light on the artist’s vision, his imprint. The author uses this reflec-tion throughout the book, which is as much an essay as a livre-objet, marvelously composed and formatted with the utmost elegance. Fun and brilliant.»

Nathalie Crom, Télérama

Warhol Spirit (Grasset, 2008) (Prix Médicis of the essay 2008)