Perrine Le Querrec’s book about Francis Bacon, entitled Bacon le Cannibale, was published by Hippocampe Editions in 2018, with financial support from the Francis Bacon MB Art Foundation.
The book draws on sources in the MB Art Collection archives to build a sensitive, lyrical portrait of Francis Bacon and his work. From reluctant words and stubborn silence, Perrine Le Querrec creates a language and vision. Studying and using archives and images are central to her writing.
‘To the question “Which writer has influenced you?” I would unhesitatingly answer, “Francis Bacon”. Although not a writer, he has always been an essential source of inspiration and guidance. I would never write “stories”: I would seek to write a language that would address the body, sensations and nervous system ‒ a language as living, as embodied as possible. Archives are sources of memory, emotion and poetry that are central to the construction of my writing, so to pay homage to Francis Bacon, a painter who used archives, photographs and all kinds of images as they evolved and decayed and acquired surface texture and depth over time, I worked from his own archives, his portraits and objects that belonged to him. These archives, preserved by a devotee of Bacon’s work, have given substance to my passion. Obsessively shadowing him, tracing him through his actions and materials, I have attempted a Study for a portrait of the artist. Through archives and poetry, I have endeavoured to get as close as possible to a flamboyant, heart-breaking, solitary yet universal creative oeuvre.’ Perrine Le Querrec
In French
Available to order on line here
