Sans lui

Sans lui – Disappearance, love, family: visual artist Sophie Calle explores the great subjects that nourish our daily lives by breaking the codes. In this book, she focuses on matrimonial classified ads published between 1895 and 2019 in various media (Le Chasseur français, Nouvel Observateur) and then on the websites and applications Meetic and Tinder. Selected by the artist and classified by decades, the ads of women seeking men and vice versa, highlight the main qualities sought in both sexes and the tastes in love over the years. Sophie Calle draws up a sociological panorama of the evolution of man-woman relations through time with all the poetry and humor that characterize her.

A selection of detachable “vintage” classified ads and two sheets of decals that allow each reader to personalize his or her book punctuate this love catalog.

Conceived in collaboration with the publishing house Cent pages, this work is part of the series of books drawn by four hands with the artist since M’as-tu vue by Atelier EXB/Éditions Xavier Barral. Sophie Calle pays tribute to the artistic complicity forged over many years with Xavier Barral.