MER. Books

MER. Books (formerly MER. Paper Kunsthalle) was established in 2005 in order to examine the possibilities and position of books as places to exhibit art. Since their incipience, art books often developed as rigid catalogues or aide-mémoires. They were seldom considered as genuine spaces to exhibit living art. However, from Dada onwards artists have always thought of books as independent exhibiting spaces. From its creation onwards, MER keeps building further on this specific artistic practice.
One of MER. Books' main focuses therefore is to provide this singular exhibiting space to artists, by creating an institutional platform that publishes art books in a different fashion. MER. calls itself a Paper Kunsthalle; because it initiates, develops and supports art exhibiting within the medium book.
In 2018 MER. Books entrusted its book publishing activities to Borgerhoff & Lambrigts NV, where it continues its programme under the MER. Imprint.

Ghent

www.borgerhoff-lamberigts.be/mer

53 titles

Radicale24

2025

bilingual edition (English / French)

forthcoming

This book celebrates Radicale1924, a contemporary art residency founded in 2020 by Belgian choreographer Chantal Yzermans.

Donald Judd
The Low Countries – 1965–1971

2025

English edition

forthcoming

Donald Judd's formative years and recognition in the Low Countries and Europe between 1965 and 1971.

Magali Reus
27

2025

English edition

forthcoming

27 features 27 recent works from two series titled Clementine and Merlin (2023–24) by London-based artist Magali Reus. This book, in its beautifully crafted materiality, format and typography, mimics a diary or romantic novel.

Magali Reus
Our Volumes

2025

English edition

forthcoming

A retrospective of the London-based Dutch artist's work over two decades.

Béatrice Balcou
Porteurs

2025

English edition

The Porteurs series of glass works by Béatrice Balcou.

Hans Maria De Wolf
Decorum, or The Duchamp-Courbet Case – A Short Presentation outlining a Fondamental Confrontation bewteen the 19th and the 20th Century in wich M. Broodthaers Intervenes in the Role of a Negociator a posteriori

2025

English edition

This posthumously published essay presents Hans De Wolf's sharp analysis of one of the greatest rivalries in art history, a rivalry between two centuries, embodied by two of their most prominent figures: Courbet for the 19th and Duchamp for the 20th century.

To a Dead Hare

2025

bilingual edition (English / Dutch)

To a Dead Hare collects images from trajectories around photography, created by mentormentor over the past few years for S.M.A.K. Moves, a programme centred around inclusivity, with art as a universal language.

Jef Geys
Catalogue Raisonnable

2025

bilingual edition (English / Dutch)

The first total survey of Jef Geys' work.

Painting after Painting – Contemporary Painting in Belgium

2025

trilingual edition (English / French / Dutch)

Painting after Painting explores the dynamic and evolving landscape of contemporary painting in Belgium, reflecting on its complex history and diverse practices.

Elen Braga

2025

bilingual edition (English / Portuguese)

The first comprehensive survey of fifteen years of work by Belgian-Brazilian artist Elen Braga.

Micheline Szwajcer Gallery – Exhibitions

2025

English edition

This comprehensive volume chronicles four decades of exhibitions held at the esteemed Antwerp-based art gallery, Galerie Micheline Szwajcer.

Tim Onderbeke
Alain Pierre – Quitte à me tromper

2025

English edition

A stark and contemplative tribute to composer and intellectual Alain Pierre (1948-2024) by Belgian artist Tim Onderbeke.

Ryuji Tanaka
II

2025

English edition

Pieter Vermeulen
The Sleep of Reason – Critical Perspectives on Contemporary Art

2025

English edition

This book offers an original and thought-provoking exploration of a diverse range of contemporary artistic practices, set within a broader cultural context. It argues that art can teach us about the human condition and our way of co-inhabiting the world, in a unique interplay between reason and imagination, creation and contemplation, poetry and inquiry.

Futuring Spaces of Possibility – Contemporary Art and Architecture in a World Heritage City

2024

bilingual edition (English / Dutch)

Futuring Spaces of Possibility explores how contemporary art and architecture address urban, social and ecological challenges and create new possibilities for the future city. It invites urban theorists, curators, artists and architects to use Bruges, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as a testbed for new spatial imaginaries.

Orshi Drozdik
Adventures in Technos Dystopium – Work, writings, exhibitions 1970–1995

2024

English edition

A comprehensive overview of the Hungarian post-conceptual and feminist artist's practice in the first decades of her fifty-year long career, including several of her writings.

Peter N. Miller
The Weather on 9/9/01

2024

English edition

An essay on historical thinking through an examination of the unstudied minor genre of the newspaper weather map.

Sean Crossley
Excess/Support

2024

English edition

A body of 100 paintings worked through from 2019 to 2023 (artist's book).

$AHA - AHA In Practice - A Travelogue by Leeke Reinders – L\'Ermitage, Jubel, Ulysse$

AHA
AHA In Practice – A Travelogue by Leeke Reinders – L'Ermitage, Jubel, Ulysse

2024

English edition

For the fifth book in the In Practice series, architect Aurélie Hachez and cultural anthropologist Leeke Reinders invite readers on a road journey through three transformative projects: L'Ermitage in urban Brussels, suburban Jubel, and rural Ulysse.

Luc Tuymans, Zlatko Kopljar
Mercy (Politics)

2024

English edition

This publication examines the intersection of art and politics, through the deeply engaged work and thought of two contemporary artists.

Ariane Loze

2024

bilingual edition (English / French)

A comprehensive survey of acclaimed artist Ariane Loze's videographic oeuvre.

Jean-Marie Bytebier
Rendez-vous

2024

French edition

Catalogue.

Elke Andreas Boon
On Hope Etc.

2024

English edition

Reference monograph.

Renato Nicolodi
Ni Co Lo Di

2024

bilingual edition (English / Dutch)

This special second-edition monograph showcases a comprehensive selection of Nicolodi's oeuvre, presenting his work in the most compelling way to date.

Laurens Legiers
Echoes of the Unseen – Works on Paper

2024

English edition

Works on paper by the Belgian artist.

Leon Vranken
Yes and Maybe or Also No

2024

English edition

An exploration of the creative world of Belgian artist Leon Vranken, blending artworks with experimental imagery spanning from 2019 to 2023.

Cindy Wright
Still Well

2024

English edition

A 20-year retrospective of Cindy Wright's paintings, blending photo-realism with detailed, painterly techniques.

Yayoi Kusama
The Dutch years 1960–70

2023

English edition

A complete documentation of Yayoi Kusama's early performative activities in the Netherlands in the 1960s-70s, through a collection of previously unpublished photographs and written and visual accounts from eyewitnesses, showcasing her unique style and engagement with the emerging sexual revolution.

John C. Welchman, Koen van den Broek
Out of Place

2023

bilingual edition (English / French)

The largest and most comprehensive monograph on van den Broek's work to date, a complete and monumental survey of 1998 until now, on over 500 pages, presented and analysed by John C. Welchman.

Tami Amit
Last Night I Met Snow White

2023

bilingual edition (English / French)

First monograph dedicated to the pictorial work of Israeli artist Tami Amit.

Dyvik Kahlen
Dyvik Kahlen In Practice – Villa Ruba

2023

English edition

For the fourth book in the In Practice series, Dyvik Kahlen architects explore the design process of the Villa Ruba, located near Utrecht.

A Search for the Universal – The Axel & May Vervoordt Foundation

2023

English edition

A publication dedicated to the Axel and May Vervoordt Foundation, a Belgian art foundation containing over 700 artworks from both contemporary artists (Jef Verheyen, Anish Kapoor, Angel Vergara, etc.) as well as old ancient objects and artworks.

Angel Vergara
We, the Works of Art

2023

English edition

The most complete monograph devoted to the Belgian artist of Spanish origin, heir to Ensor, Broodthaers and Beuys.

Michel François
Contre nature

2023

English edition

A look at 40 years of artistic practice by Belgian artist Michel François.

Tim Onderbeke
Candles – A Photographic Novel

2023

English edition

A photographic essay on the spiritual and architectural dimensions of the candle.

Petrus De Man
Ajar

2022

trilingual edition (English / French / Dutch)

The first monographic volume on the graphic work of Belgian artist Petrus De Man.

Liam Gillick
A Max De Vos

2022

English edition

A novel by Liam Gillick.

Xavier Mary
Victory over the Sun

2022

bilingual edition (English / French)

Retrospective monograph: an exhaustive overview of more than fifteen years of practice of the Belgian artist whose work oscillates between post-industrial sculptures and post-apocalyptic realism.

Michel Mazzoni
Rien, presque

2022

bilingual edition (English / French)

A body of fragmented images and views that draw their iconography from public spaces or from motifs specific to modernity.

Koen van den Broek
Firminy

2022

bilingual edition (English / French)

This catalogue features an exclusive selection of works created by renowned Belgian painter Koen van den Broek in France, a series on paper based on the architecture of Le Corbusier (Firminy).

Jacqueline Mesmaeker
Quelle Aventure !

2021

trilingual edition (English / French / Dutch)

Reference monograph on the work of one of Belgium's most discreet, yet most important, female artists.

Béatrice Balcou
Cérémonies

2021

bilingual edition (English / French)

The complete Ceremonies (2013-2020) by Béatrice Balcou, testing our visual and experiential approach to artworks, confronting us with the basic status of material objects before actually revealing their identity.

Richard Tuttle
Stories I-XX

2021

English edition

Discover Richard Tuttle as story teller and writer: first publication of 44 short stories by the artist paired with 22 sculptural works from the "Stories" Series.

$Jean Chauvin - L\'ombre atomique$

Jean Chauvin
L'ombre atomique

2020

bilingual edition (English / French)

A selection of around 60 rarely shown photographs by French artist Jean Chauvin (1889-1976), one of the pioneers of abstract sculpture of the early 20th century.

Yayoi Kusama
Love Forever

2020

French edition

The first publication to provide an overview of Kusama's early performative activities, with unpublished photos and forgotten works from private collections.

Matt Mullican
The Meaning of Things

2020

English edition

This artist's book is the book-form of a work by Matt Mullican, "The Meaning of Things (who feels the most pain?)" (2014), con sisting of 676 collages and texts on sheets of standard printing paper.

Richard Tuttle
The Role of the Story Teller

2020

English edition

Richard Tuttle and color.

Daniel Buren
Libretto – Daniel Buren : une fresque (box set)

2016

French edition

The journal/catalogue conceived by Daniel Buren for his retrospective at BOZAR.