French Literature Reviews - 2026
A. Mare, Constellations – Textes, matières, images
Art and Visual Culture
Constellations – Textes, matières, images
Alexandre Mare
Les Presses du réel
ISBN: 979-10-96911-16-5
€20.00
376 p.
OVERVIEW
An anthology of critical texts and essays on art and literature written and published by Alexandre Mare over the past decade.
"I was 15 or 16, and some friends and I had challenged each other to pick up girls by talking to them about the screams in Kurosawa's films, or trying to explain why Picasso 'just makes you feel...'—someone really ought to write a manual of erotology structured as a catalogue raisonné of Picasso's work. At the same time, we were preparing the revolution."
Proust, Man Ray, Oppenheim, and Crevel. Bataille, Rivière, Oates, and Guyotat. Mallet-Stevens and Breuer. Schulz and von Stroheim. Mansour, Hugnet, Caillois, and Duprat. Pynchon, Exley, Robbins, Huncke, and Kerouac… Constellations brings together a selection of critical texts and essays on art and literature written and published by Alexandre Mare over the last ten years. Stroke by stroke, this rich anthology paints a portrait of an empathetic and curious author, deeply attentive to a multitude of aesthetic and intellectual media. An author eager to share his passions with the reader, introduce them to overlooked creators, and invite them to read and look differently—obliquely, following a transversal trajectory. Alexandre Mare welcomes the reader and accompanies them along paths yet to be cleared, fostering a sensitivity to the creative processes behind the artwork. He frequently places the reader right inside the studio, while maintaining a broad historical perspective. Three major threads emerge: the relationship to the body (or bodies); questions of the margins, norms, and eccentricity; and dreams, the imaginary, and the marvelous… Yet rather than structuring the anthology into artificial thematic chapters, the motif of the constellation—so dear to Walter Benjamin—was chosen to articulate the fragmentary stages of this wandering journey, shaping and staging this free-form stroll.
THE AUTHOR
A literary critic (for Art Press, Le Monde, etc.) with a focus on the avant-garde and contemporary art, Alexandre Mare is also an exhibition curator, notably at Villa Noailles. He has edited or published several books, including René Crevel. Les Inédits (Seuil, 2013), and co-authored Charles et Marie-Laure de Noailles. Mécènes du XXe siècle (Bernard Chauveau édition / Villa Noailles, 2018). In 2018, he received the Fondation des Treilles Prize.
By adopting Walter Benjamin’s concept of the constellation, Alexandre Mare rejects rigid chronological or thematic structures in favor of a fluid, associative approach. This method mirrors the intellectual curiosity of the avant-garde movements he frequently covers, from Surrealism and Dada to mid-century modernism. Figures like René Crevel, Georges Bataille, and Man Ray are not merely analyzed; they are brought into dialogue with contemporary artists and writers. This non-linear exploration allows the reader to trace unexpected connections across different media, including literature, photography, architecture, and cinema, revealing the shared impulses that drive creative innovation.
This collection, Constellations, is particularly valuable for those interested in how artistic creation navigates the boundaries of norms, eccentricity, and the subconscious. By focusing on the physical body and the role of dreams, Mare addresses fundamental questions about the nature of artistic inspiration and the spaces where different disciplines intersect. Scholars and students of modern art history, French literature, and the avant-garde will find this book an indispensable resource. It also serves as an engaging guide for general readers seeking to understand the creative processes of both celebrated and overlooked figures in twentieth-century culture.