Ann Noël and the Edizioni Conz

The Archivio Conz in Berlin is looking forward to a double premiere: the publication of the catalogue raisonné of the British typographer and artist Ann Noël and the simultaneous publication of the catalogue raisonné of the Edizioni Conz by Francesco Conz. The conversation will be about art and life, cataloging and archiving. The Berlin based artist, collector, curator and archivist Vadim Zakharov received the Goslaer Kaiserring together with Yuri Albert in October 2023.

The book, published by Argobooks, is the first to present an overview of the British artist’s extensive oeuvre. Ann Noël studied at the Bath School of Art until 1968, where she studied with representatives of Concrete Poetry such as Dom Sylvester Houédard and Hansjörg Mayer. Since that time she has kept a “visual diary” containing sketches, collages, descriptions of her daily work, but also of biennials or artists-in-residencies and all FLUXUS events in which she has participated. After graduating, she began working first for Hansjörg Mayer in Stuttgart and then in New York for Dick Higgins’ publishing house Something Else Press, where she met Emmett Williams alongside Alison Knowles, Dorothy Iannone and Daniel Spoerri. She married the latter in 1970 and in the following years taught with him at the California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, Nova Scotia College in Halifax and at Harvard University, Cambridge, e.g. as a lecturer at the printing workshops and as a visiting artist. In June 1980, the couple came to Berlin via the DAAD, where Ann Noël still lives today.

The Edizioni Conz of the Italian collector, publisher and photographer Francesco Conz—including portfolios, large silkscreen prints on fabrics and objects—are among the finest and most elaborate art editions of the second half of the 20th century. A friend and patron of Viennese Actionism, Fluxus, Concrete Poetry, and Lettrism, he was an obsessive, knowledgeable enthusiast open to all the arts, for whom hospitality, the magic of community, and respect for the arts were more important than any mercantile aspirations. 
This publication, published by Hatje Canz, is the first comprehensive catalogue raisonné of the editions published by Conz between 1972 and 2009. Comprising more than 500 editions, it is both a reflection of his passions and a memorial to the art of the avant-gardes. Texts by contemporaries such as Alison Knowles, Dick Higgins, Milan Knižak, Eugen Gomringer, Emmett Williams, Nicholas Zurbrugg, and others complete the richly illustrated catalogue.

Ann Noël, Life&Art – Art&Life. Works 1964–2023. Edited by Vanessa Adler and Santiago da Silva with Ann Noël, with texts by André Behr, Marlene Frei and Anna Szaflarski, designed by Santiago da Silva, Argobooks Berlin 2023, 328 pages, 625 illustrations.

Edizioni F. Conz, Editions by Francesco Conz 1972–2009: A Catalogue Raisonné.
Edited by: Hubertus von Amelunxen, Mariamargherita Maceli, with texts by Hubertus von Amelunxen, Eugen Gomringer, Dick Higgins, Milan Knizak, Alison Knowles, Patrizio Peterlini, Emmett Williams and Nicholas Zurbrugg. Graphic Design: Studio Pyda, Hatje Cantz, Berlin 2023, 800 Pages, 1300 illustrations. 

Archivio Conz is dedicated to the presentation, promotion, and research of Fluxus, Concrete Poetry, and Lettrism. It holds one of the largest collections of Fluxus art in the world, amassed over five decades by visionary collector, publisher, and photographer Francesco Conz (1935–2010).