Françoise Pétrovitch born in 1964 is among the most distinguished contemporary artists in
France. Her art reveals ambiguous often transgressive worlds that play with conventional
boundaries and defy interpretation. The intimate the fragment the disappearance as well as
themes such as doppelgängers transition and cruelty run through her works which are
populated by animals flowers and creatures and whose atmosphere alternately bright or
nocturnal rarely leaves a viewer untouched. Framed by the topic of absence this volume
features new and recent drawings prints and video art by Françoise Pétrovitch. Absence can be
agonizing a tragedy. As counterpart to presence it is characterized by longing and
projection. It describes the passing of time distance and lack. Painting itself is also
characterized by absence: the artist the model the landscape or the past moment are not
truly present. Richly illustrated and with essays on Pétrovitch's art and the various
techniques she uses the book offers a deep look into the worlds she creates.
