François Jonquet

François Jonquet (born (1961-07-12)12 July 1961), is a French Berlin-based[1] writer and art critic.[2] He is a member of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA).[3] His specialism as a writer is to alternate novels and biographies.

François Jonquet
François Jonquet in Paris in 2017, photographed by Hermance Triay for Éditions du Seuil.
Born	(1961-07-12) 12 July 1961 Châlons-en-Champagne
Nationality	French
Occupation	Writer, novelist, art critic and film critic

Since 2005, he has contributed[4] to the bilingual journal (French, English) art press founded by the art critic and writer Catherine Millet.

He is the author of the illustrated work of reference about the British art duo, Gilbert & George, Intimate Conversations with François Jonquet, Phaidon 2005.[5][6] It comprises a distillation of interviews.

In 2000, he reconnected with an acquaintance from his youth. During his years nightclubbing, François Jonquet had hung out with Jenny Bel'Air, the star of the French underground of the seventies and eighties. A mixed-race transvestite, Jenny had been the physiognomist for Fabrice Emaer's legendary nightclub, Le Palace. A biography was published a year later, (Jenny Bel'Air, une créature, Éditions Pauvert, 2001).[7][8][9]

Et me voici vivant (Sabine Wespieser Éditeur, 2006),[10][11] is an account of his descent into madness.

He had another remarkable meeting in 2007, this time with Daniel Emilfork. François Jonquet went on to recount the final years of the life of this great theatrical actor. Largely typecast as an evil character in feature films because of his extraordinary face, his role in The City of Lost Children is a notable example, (Daniel, Sabine Wespieser Éditeur, 2008).[12][13][14]

His coming-of-age novel, Les Vrais Paradis, (Sabine Wespieser Éditeur, 2014),[15][16] is set in the Parisian nightclub, Le Palace, during the years 1979–84.

A personal portrait of Valérie Lang – the actress, political activist and daughter of Jack Lang, former Minister of Culture of President François Mitterrand – was published in 2018. (Je veux brûler tout mon temps, Seuil).[17][18] She died suddenly at the age of forty-seven.