Jean-Yves Jouannais

Born in 1964

Jean-Yves Jouannais was born in 1964. He was the editor of periodical art press for nine years and co-founded the Revue Perpendiculaire in 1995. He is also an art critic and an exhibition curator (Venice Biennale, 1995; Le Fou dédoublé. L'idiotie dans l'art du XXe siècle ["The Fool Split in Two. Idiocy in 20th-century Art"], Moscow, 2000; Lost in the Supermarket, Paris, Fondation Ricard, 2001; and soon La Force de l'art 02 ["The Power of Art 02"], Paris, Grand Palais, April 2009). He has also started a cycle of lectures - performances titled L'Encyclopédie des guerres ["The Encyclopaedia of Wars"] at the Pompidou Center, which is scheduled to run over the next four years.

He is the author of several essays, including Des nains, des jardins. Essai sur le kitsch pavillonnaire ["Dwarfs, Gardens: An Essay on Suburban Kitsch"] (Paris: Hazan, 1993); Armand Silvestre, poète modique ["Armand Silvestre, A Modest Poet"] (Paris: Gallimard, 1979), the much noted L'Idiotie (Paris: Beaux Arts Magazine livres, 2003), Prolégomènes à tout château d'eau ["Prolegomena to Any Water Tower"] (Paris: Inventaire/Invention, 2004), as well as his first (and last) novel, Jésus Hermès Congrès (Paris: Verticales, 2001).

His essay, Artists without works, I would prefer not to was re-published in April 2009, by the Editions verticales. He is also the curator of the Felicien Marboeuf (1852-1924) exhibition, presented at the Fondation d'Entreprise Ricard from June 3 to July 11, 2009