Works (1975–2002), from the collection of Jean-Luc Nancy

François Martin

doi:10.1353/dia.2015.0029

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Works (1975–2002), from the collection of Jean-Luc Nancy
François Martin

Born in 1945, François Martin lives and works in Paris. He has taught for many years at the École supérieure d’art du Havre. He has also taught workshops around the world, including in China, Africa, and South America. He and Jean-Luc Nancy have collaborated in a creative back-and-forth for decades: Nancy has introduced and commented on Martin’s art; Martin’s work has appeared in books authored by Nancy (the first eighty copies of Nancy’s 2000 Le regard du portrait each contained an original watercolor by Martin). Other joint projects include NIUM (1992), Taureau, Totem (2004), Trop (2005), and Trait d’union (2006).

Their collaboration began in 1977 when François Martin, having completed 312 drawings in five days, made a phone call to Jean-Luc Nancy, whom he had never met, to ask him to write something that would introduce the series of drawings. Nancy agreed and soon the drawings were exhibited with an introduction by the philosopher, and with the title he provided: Poncifs.

For this issue of diacritics, the two friends selected only works by Martin that are in the personal collection of Jean-Luc Nancy. The artwork was photographed by Nancy himself and thus, he wishes to add, not professionally. The guest editors of this issue and the editors of diacritics thank Jean-Luc Nancy and François Martin for their generosity in providing the art that appears on the cover and throughout this issue. [End Page 120]