Suzon

Suzon — both a reprint of Raimundas Malašauskas sold-out book Paper Exhibitions from 2012 and a new collection of writings by the author that have happened since — offers a window onto Malašauskas’ worldview, based on collective improvisation, congregation and continuous drift. It includes essays, exhibition guides, personal letters, song lyrics, an opening speech and a cocktail recipe – together offering a glimpse of what perhaps in a few years we will look back upon as L’esprit du temps.

The book’s title refers to the woman who was the model for Édouard Manet’s A Bar at the Folies-Bergère (1882), a painting that fascinated Malašauskas from childhood on. “At some point I came to realize that many of my writings came from a similar starting point to Suzon’s work at the bar – most were made to order. As a writer, I sometimes tend to misplace an order and prepare a surprise drink or dish instead. You can think of the writings in Suzon as returns or requests; some were prepared as suggestions.”

As part of the one-time residency project …, een dag, een nacht, een dag, … Raimundas Malašauskas also realized a limited edition in five versions, consisting of a letter to the reader in the form of a dry-point etching and a wrapper with a UV-printed drawing. These will be presented during two public presentations in February 2025 on location in Brussels.

Editors: Tom Engels, Yana Foqué & Krist Gruijthuijsen
Design: Goda Budvytytė
Publishers: KW Institute for Contemporary Art (Berlin), Grazer Kunstverein (Graz), Kunstverein Publishing (Amsterdam), Baltish Arts Magazine (Vilnius) and Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther und Franz König (Köln).