[ARTIST'S BOOK] - BÉNÉZET (Mathieu). HÉLÉNON (Philippe). Lea - Lot 37

[ARTIST'S BOOK] - BÉNÉZET (Mathieu). HÉLÉNON (Philippe). Leaflets entre-baillés. Remarkable autograph manuscript by Mathieu Bénézet on an original work by Philippe Hélénon, illustrating the concept of the "poor book" theorized by Daniel Leuwers: an uncluttered work in which the dialogue between text and color becomes the very subject of the book. S.l., s.n., s.d. (circa 2000). Large in-4 (330 × 126 mm; unfolded: 330 × 505 mm). Leporello leaf. Extremely rare first edition. Limited edition of seven copies, this one numbered 7/7 and signed by the author and artist. The book features a handwritten poem by Mathieu Bénézet, integrated with Philippe Hélénon's painting (mixed media, gouache and watercolor), occupying the verso of the sheet. The title and print run appear on the first and last panels of the recto, adorned with Hélénon's second composition. This "poor book", in Daniel Leuwers' terminology, is an artistic device of rare intensity. It revives the genealogy of "substantial allies" dear to René Char: the direct encounter, with no editorial intermediary, between the painter's gesture and the poet's breath. For Mathieu Bénézet, the painter's intervention is essential. Indeed, as he said of another poor book illustrated by Hélénon (Je dors dans la peinture), "the complexity of the poem is suddenly absorbed and understood" by the pictorial space. Cf. Leuwers, Livre pauvre / livre riche, 2006.