Burn the Diaries

In the oeuvre of Canadian-born, New York–based artist Moyra Davey, literature and writing are as significant as photography, film, and video. In Burn the Diaries, Davey considers the work of French playwright and political activist Jean Genet (1910–1986), while examining fugitive moments from her own life. An essay by her childhood friend and reading companion Alison Strayer, written in response, reflects on Davey’s themes. The publication is part of a group of works—also including photographs, a film, and an installation of her signature mailers—and can be read both as an artist’s book and a catalogue that accompanied an exhibition at mumok, Vienna, and the ICA, Philadelphia, in 2014.