Delaine Le Bas: In the forest of grief I grew into a shrub of gold
In the forest of grief I grew into a shrub of gold
Limited edition publication of 300 regular copies only
With contributions from Stephen Ellcock, Lisa Cohen, John Marchant, Keiko Yamamoto, Claire Jackson, Damian James Le Bas
Art Directed by Jane Howard Photographs by Tara Darby
Edited by Dal Chodha and Jane Howard Designed by Margherita Sabbioneda
Published by Archivist Addendum, September 2024
323mm x 210mm, 68pp
For British artist Delaine Le Bas, dress is divine. Clothes appear as both mask and memorial within an expansive body of work exploring mythologies of Le Bas’s Romani ancestry. Embroidered and hand-painted textile is central to the artist’s lyrically activist practice, alongside costume, writing and performance. In a new series of portraits by the British photographer Tara Darby, directed by Jane Howard, gold leaf dances across the planes of Le Bas’s face in repose,
it wraps and jangles around her wrists, glimmers across her clothes. In a notebook she has inscribed: “In the forest of grief I grew into a shrub of gold.” The grief is alchemical.
As Stephen Ellcock writes:
“The maxim ‘Know Thyself’ was inscribed in gold on a column on the threshold of Pythia’s temple, serving as a warning that wisdom, understanding, empathy and anything remotely resembling peace of mind are unachievable without self-awareness, reflection and ruthless self-criticism.”
The fragments of hope, anger, magic and curiosity redolent in Le Bas’s work form a call to action. A reminder of the racism, exclusion and subjugation that abound. Photographs of Le Bas, which Darby has been making for more than a decade, present the artist as truth sayer, inquisitive goddess and modern-day Sibyl.
Through the incorporation of texts and drawings from Le Bas’s journals, archival images taken at her home and the restyling—and reflection—of her own personal wardrobe, In the forest of grief I grew into a shrub of gold radiates psychological, social and political wisdom. Fashion is revealed as both tyrannical disguise and liberating regalia.
We will shortly be posting further details regarding the special edition.
Biography
Delaine Le Bas has exhibited her works extensively both in the UK and abroad. In June 2007 her work was included in the first Roma Pavilion at 52nd Venice Biennale and the Prague Biennale. She has continued participating in international events including the 11th Berlin Biennale (2020), Harbstsalon, Maxim Gorki Theatre, Berlin (2019, 2017), Roma Pavilion at 58th Venice Biennale (2019) and a number of UK venues including solo exhibitions at Transmission, Glasgow (2018), Bolton Museum and Art Gallery, Bolton (2014), St Sara Kali George, Worthing Museum and Art Gallery (2021), Beware of Linguistic Engineering, Maxim Gorki Theater (2022). She has curated House of Le Bas (2023) an exhibition overviewing the history of practice of herself and her late artist husband Damian Le Bas for Whitechapel Gallery and a solo show for Secession in Vienna in the summer 2023 for which she was nominated for the Turner Prize 2024.
Archivist Addendum
Founded in 2020 by Jane Howard and Dal Chodha, Archivist Addendum is a non-seasonal and multi-format publishing project that occupies the nascent space between standardised fashion editorial and arcane academe.
In the forest of grief I grew into a shrub of gold
Limited edition publication of 300 regular copies only
With contributions from Stephen Ellcock, Lisa Cohen, John Marchant, Keiko Yamamoto, Claire Jackson, Damian James Le Bas
Art Directed by Jane Howard Photographs by Tara Darby
Edited by Dal Chodha and Jane Howard Designed by Margherita Sabbioneda
Published by Archivist Addendum, September 2024
323mm x 210mm, 68pp
For British artist Delaine Le Bas, dress is divine. Clothes appear as both mask and memorial within an expansive body of work exploring mythologies of Le Bas’s Romani ancestry. Embroidered and hand-painted textile is central to the artist’s lyrically activist practice, alongside costume, writing and performance. In a new series of portraits by the British photographer Tara Darby, directed by Jane Howard, gold leaf dances across the planes of Le Bas’s face in repose,
it wraps and jangles around her wrists, glimmers across her clothes. In a notebook she has inscribed: “In the forest of grief I grew into a shrub of gold.” The grief is alchemical.
As Stephen Ellcock writes:
“The maxim ‘Know Thyself’ was inscribed in gold on a column on the threshold of Pythia’s temple, serving as a warning that wisdom, understanding, empathy and anything remotely resembling peace of mind are unachievable without self-awareness, reflection and ruthless self-criticism.”
The fragments of hope, anger, magic and curiosity redolent in Le Bas’s work form a call to action. A reminder of the racism, exclusion and subjugation that abound. Photographs of Le Bas, which Darby has been making for more than a decade, present the artist as truth sayer, inquisitive goddess and modern-day Sibyl.
Through the incorporation of texts and drawings from Le Bas’s journals, archival images taken at her home and the restyling—and reflection—of her own personal wardrobe, In the forest of grief I grew into a shrub of gold radiates psychological, social and political wisdom. Fashion is revealed as both tyrannical disguise and liberating regalia.
We will shortly be posting further details regarding the special edition.
Biography
Delaine Le Bas has exhibited her works extensively both in the UK and abroad. In June 2007 her work was included in the first Roma Pavilion at 52nd Venice Biennale and the Prague Biennale. She has continued participating in international events including the 11th Berlin Biennale (2020), Harbstsalon, Maxim Gorki Theatre, Berlin (2019, 2017), Roma Pavilion at 58th Venice Biennale (2019) and a number of UK venues including solo exhibitions at Transmission, Glasgow (2018), Bolton Museum and Art Gallery, Bolton (2014), St Sara Kali George, Worthing Museum and Art Gallery (2021), Beware of Linguistic Engineering, Maxim Gorki Theater (2022). She has curated House of Le Bas (2023) an exhibition overviewing the history of practice of herself and her late artist husband Damian Le Bas for Whitechapel Gallery and a solo show for Secession in Vienna in the summer 2023 for which she was nominated for the Turner Prize 2024.
Archivist Addendum
Founded in 2020 by Jane Howard and Dal Chodha, Archivist Addendum is a non-seasonal and multi-format publishing project that occupies the nascent space between standardised fashion editorial and arcane academe.
In the forest of grief I grew into a shrub of gold
Limited edition publication of 300 regular copies only
With contributions from Stephen Ellcock, Lisa Cohen, John Marchant, Keiko Yamamoto, Claire Jackson, Damian James Le Bas
Art Directed by Jane Howard Photographs by Tara Darby
Edited by Dal Chodha and Jane Howard Designed by Margherita Sabbioneda
Published by Archivist Addendum, September 2024
323mm x 210mm, 68pp
For British artist Delaine Le Bas, dress is divine. Clothes appear as both mask and memorial within an expansive body of work exploring mythologies of Le Bas’s Romani ancestry. Embroidered and hand-painted textile is central to the artist’s lyrically activist practice, alongside costume, writing and performance. In a new series of portraits by the British photographer Tara Darby, directed by Jane Howard, gold leaf dances across the planes of Le Bas’s face in repose,
it wraps and jangles around her wrists, glimmers across her clothes. In a notebook she has inscribed: “In the forest of grief I grew into a shrub of gold.” The grief is alchemical.
As Stephen Ellcock writes:
“The maxim ‘Know Thyself’ was inscribed in gold on a column on the threshold of Pythia’s temple, serving as a warning that wisdom, understanding, empathy and anything remotely resembling peace of mind are unachievable without self-awareness, reflection and ruthless self-criticism.”
The fragments of hope, anger, magic and curiosity redolent in Le Bas’s work form a call to action. A reminder of the racism, exclusion and subjugation that abound. Photographs of Le Bas, which Darby has been making for more than a decade, present the artist as truth sayer, inquisitive goddess and modern-day Sibyl.
Through the incorporation of texts and drawings from Le Bas’s journals, archival images taken at her home and the restyling—and reflection—of her own personal wardrobe, In the forest of grief I grew into a shrub of gold radiates psychological, social and political wisdom. Fashion is revealed as both tyrannical disguise and liberating regalia.
We will shortly be posting further details regarding the special edition.
Biography
Delaine Le Bas has exhibited her works extensively both in the UK and abroad. In June 2007 her work was included in the first Roma Pavilion at 52nd Venice Biennale and the Prague Biennale. She has continued participating in international events including the 11th Berlin Biennale (2020), Harbstsalon, Maxim Gorki Theatre, Berlin (2019, 2017), Roma Pavilion at 58th Venice Biennale (2019) and a number of UK venues including solo exhibitions at Transmission, Glasgow (2018), Bolton Museum and Art Gallery, Bolton (2014), St Sara Kali George, Worthing Museum and Art Gallery (2021), Beware of Linguistic Engineering, Maxim Gorki Theater (2022). She has curated House of Le Bas (2023) an exhibition overviewing the history of practice of herself and her late artist husband Damian Le Bas for Whitechapel Gallery and a solo show for Secession in Vienna in the summer 2023 for which she was nominated for the Turner Prize 2024.
Archivist Addendum
Founded in 2020 by Jane Howard and Dal Chodha, Archivist Addendum is a non-seasonal and multi-format publishing project that occupies the nascent space between standardised fashion editorial and arcane academe.