Wim Delvoye
Early Works (1968-1971)
Belgium: Rectapublishers, 2002
264 pp., 30 x 23 cm., hardcover
Edition size unknown
An artist book masquerading as a monograph, this title plays with the Early Works trope of unearthing examples from the beginnings of an artist’s career (often elderly, or deceased). Given that Delvoye was born in 1965, these works would have been produced between the ages of three and six - just before and just after beginning primary school.
Purportedly preserved by his prescient mother, the drawings show how a young child is "directed, limited, and influenced by contemporary iconography”. Conversely, it has been suggested that Delvoye collected drawings made by children and signed his name to them retroactively.
Either way, the book is a playful satire of the merchandizing of an artist’s life.
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