FRANCOIS VILLON “BALLADS IN THIEVES’ JARGON”

Remembering his youth, drawn by Sergey Barkhin 

Publisher: Twins (Bliznetsy)
Series: The French
Publish date: 2019
Language: Russian
Translation: Sergey Bobrov
Dimensions: 50x35 cm
Edition: 22 copies

Recalling his youth, Sergei Barkhin turns to the “solid form” of Villon’s verse, which originated in France in the XIV - first half of the XV century. The irony, parody, and contrast of the poetics of everyday ballads do not escape him. The artist places figurative compositions in a seemingly uncontested structure of quotations. The words are grouped, subject to the charm and playful drama of what is happening: carnival revelry, fights, and robberies are replaced by moments of frustration, shame, and pangs of conscience.

The author's project “The French” is published in a small edition in the silkscreen printing technique. The very fact of the appearance of the series deserves special attention, since it goes beyond the typical tasks of modern book publishing. S. M. Barkhin has been illustrating French poets for a long time and reveals in a new way the direction in French art of the early twentieth century “livre d'artiste” (“the artist's book”), which received independent development in book illustration of the Soviet and post-Soviet period.