Spomenik ─ Jan Kempenaers

A photobook by Belgian photographer Jan Kempenaers, documenting the monumental memorials known as spomeniks across the former Yugoslavia.

Spomenik is a photobook by Belgian photographer Jan Kempenaers.

The book brings together photographs of monuments that Kempenaers encountered while travelling through the Balkans. Stripped of surrounding context and presented as isolated sculptural forms, the monuments reveal both their imposing visual power and the tension between aesthetic experience and the histories they commemorate.

“Looking at the photographs, one cannot help but feel a certain embarrassment. Faced with the powerful beauty of these monumental sculptures, we tend to forget the victims for whom they were erected. This is by no means a criticism of the photographer, but rather proof of the power of the image. After all, Kempenaers did not set out as a documentary photographer, but first and foremost as an artist seeking to create new images. Powerful images that envelop the viewer. He allows us to enjoy the melancholic beauty of the spomeniks, but in doing so, forces us to take a position on social issues.” — Willem Jan Neutelings, excerpt from the text included in the book

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Title: Spomenik
Artist: Jan Kempenaers
Publisher: Roma Publications, 2010
Format: Hardcover with dust jacket
Size: 335 × 245 mm
Pages: 64
Language: English
Edition: First edition
ISBN: 9789077459508

Condition: Very Good. Minor tanning, rubbing, and wear consistent with age, but overall a well-preserved copy.