The King of Africa’s Bride
The King of Africa’s Bride
A conte de Jean de la Fontaine – retold Text and images Koren Christofides Texte en français Christiane Savary Mise en page Xavier Henry 2004 - 2006 Exhibited at the Center for Art and Culture, Aix-en-Provence, France, 2005 While working on The Fables of La Fontaine Illustrated for the University of Washington Press I did a project on a conte (erotic tale) of La Fontaine. Forty nine paintings and one ‘votive piece’, 20 x 20’’, inspired by filmmakers’ storyboards, retell the story of a young woman promised in marriage to the King of Africa who, along the route to her groom, is ‘snatched off’ by eight other men, each representing a different social class Review La Provence September 14, 2005 Christiane Courbon «A modern version of a libertine tale of La Fontaine» «Koren Christofides becomes the interpreter of the poet’s wily gaze … with explicit humor …Where the drawings reference film, cartoons and art history, she plays – and amuses us as well –with traditional representations of man and woman, notions of love and seduction, such as they are currently held. A total contemporary rehandling of the language and thought of the poet, who, in his last years was forced to renounce his licentious writings, the work of Koren Christofides brings the poet’s own work unusually close to us.» |