À visage découvert

Organised by the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain in 1992, À visage découvert was an exhibition on the representation of the face and the questions it raises. Bringing together works by over 80 artists, it proposed a look at faces in all their transformations, from the ancient, non-European arts to the most recent contemporary art experiences. The face was described, scrutinized, dissected, decorated, and even “defaced.”
The catalog published on this occasion casts new light on this founding subject in the history of art. Constructed in three parts—grammar, uproar, and silence—and featuring abundant texts and images, this book stands as a veritable anthropology of the face.