Lisière d'infini 

2000

Author: Zéno Bianu (1950)
Artist: Michel Mousseau (1934)
Published: Saint-Clément-la-Rivière, Fata Morgana, 2000

Zéno Bianu has a predilection for the theatre and for eastern cultures. Besides putting together an anthology of modern French poetry and one of Japanese haikus, he has also translated work by the Hungarian author Sándor Márai, and written many volumes of poetry. He is considered one of the major contemporary poets. His poems are succinct, with the force of an aphorism and the mystery of eastern wisdom.

Michel Mousseau

At the age of twenty, Michel Mousseau dropped out of college to do nothing but paint, paint and paint some more. He comes from a working class family: one of his grandfathers was a baker, the other one was a blacksmith. From 1954 to 1973 he dropped off the radar. From the moment he moved into an old carpentry shop in Paris, where he lived and worked from then on, he devoted himself entirely to his craft. From 1973 onwards, he exhibited his work almost every year, and occasionally dallied in poetry and the theatre. He illustrated artists' books and designed posters for poetry events. His work, which frequently has Cubist tendencies, was influenced by his predilection for graphic art. In this edition of Lisière d'infini (the infinite fringe of society), Mousseau worked with abstract uneven quadrangles in bright colours that contrast with each other, sometimes subtly, and sometimes in more obvious ways. The paintings are all originals, which makes each copy in this edition unique.

The artist may have used lively colours in these illustrations, but he painted the same pattern on the back of the pages in black. To bookbinder Berdien van Lieshout, these black panes would inspire the binding design she produced in 2008 in which she distinguishes the panes through her use of different materials. The colours do return in this design though, as Van Lieshout painted the sides of the black pieces in the original colours (blue, red and yellow).

Bibliographical description:

Description:	Lisière d'infini / Zéno Bianu ; [peintures originales de] Michel Mousseau. – Saint-Clément-la-Rivière : Fata Morgana, 2000. - [17] p. : ill. ; 29 cm
Printer:	La Charité (Montpellier)
Edition:	30 copies
This copy:	Number 19 of 30 on Arches
Note:	Signed by the author and the artist.
Bookbinder:	Berdien van Lieshout (2008)
Bibliography:	Bénézit 9-916
Shelf-mark:	Koopm K 334

References:

• Paul van Capelleveen, Sophie Ham, Jordy Joubij, Voices and visions. The Koopman Collection and the Art of the French Book. The Hague, Koninklijke Bibliotheek, National Library of the Netherlands; Zwolle, Waanders, 2009