A Manhattan exhibition recently illuminated Lettrism, an experimental arts movement that pioneered "hypergraphic" novels and influenced modern comics.
The exhibition "Rewriting the World: Isidore Isou and the Lettrist Book," co-curated by Bill Kartalopoulos and Frédéric Acquaviva, recently concluded its run at the Center for Book Arts in Manhattan. From January to May, the display assembled over one hundred objects, offering a comprehensive explanation of this significant avant-garde arts movement and its enduring impact.
Founded in Paris by Romanian immigrant Isidore Isou, Lettrism began as a poetic movement before evolving into the "hypergraphic" novel. This innovative form integrated text, images, codes, braille, musical notation, and asemic writing, pushing artistic boundaries. Isou aimed to supersede Dada and modernist works like James Joyce, creating new forms by locating meaning at the letter level.
The movement introduced "pictoprose," which incorporated drawing into prose, and the "polycolor novel," using different ink colors for stratified narratives. Isou's 1950 work, Les Journaux des dieux, exemplified this with red, blue, and yellow inks creating layered text and designs. While Guy Debord was briefly a Lettrist, the movement continued long after, with figures like Gabriel Pomerand and Maurice Lemaître developing beautifully crafted hypergraphic novels.
Lettrism emerged during the closing era of silent film and the post-war European landscape, where nonverbal communication and diverse languages were common. This context fostered an environment ripe for visual and experimental storytelling. The exhibition highlighted many Lettrist works that are, in essence, comics or deeply aligned spirit of comics, serving as a precursor to numerous styles and approaches that have since emerged in the medium.
Artists such as Lemaître, Jacques Spacagna, and Roberto Altmann created fascinating works within the Lettrist framework that are recognizably comics, yet intentionally diverge from conventional forms. Their approach involved a rethinking and reconsideration of the comic medium, demonstrating a radical and exciting engagement page and design. This exploration continues to resonate, revealing how Lettrism's experimental spirit anticipated and influenced contemporary artistic practices.
