Delaine Le Bas
Encyclopedia
Delaine Le Bas is a British
Artist from a Romany background and wife of artist Damian Le Bas
.
Delaine Le Bas has shown her art extensively both in the UK and internationally, including at the International Festival of Singular Art, Roquevaire
, France
; the American Visionary Art Museum
in Baltimore
, U.S.
, Transition Gallery
and the 2005 and 2007 Prague
Biennales. In June 2007 her work was included in the first Roma pavilion of the 2007 Venice Biennale
.
Le Bas has had several solo exhibitions, including "Room" at Transition Gallery
in London; "The House of the JuJu Queen" at Galerie Giti Nourbaksch, Berlin, and at Galleria Sonia Rosso, Turin.
Her work moves expansively from a unique series of thematic departures including nationhood, race, gender and relationships. These issues are explored through freely combined media. Embroidery, painting and decoupage/"femmage" interact with sculpture and installations that reflect domestic claustrophobia, the transient nature of modern materiality and the tensions that characterise Le Bas' own experience as a Gypsy. The boundary between embellished objects and recovered items re-deposited within the installation is deliberately tested and blurred. Tapestries adorned with the Artist's own stitching and brushmarks arte confronted by items with a less unequivocal history.
About her own work, Le Bas comments: "My work is at the point where Outsider
, Folk
and Contemporary Art
meet, combining a visionary, conceptual and craft approach. I live and work in the same space 24/7 there is no separation of daily life and art they are both and one intertwined.
"As a Romany, my viewpoint has always been that of the outsider and this position of the 'other' is reflected in the materials and messages within my work. We live in a culture of mixed values and garbled messages. My works are crafted from the disregarded and disparate objects of the car boot sale and the charity shop. A bricollage of materials. Employing the materials of everyday, all formed together in a manner that allows them to be precious yet reclaimed."
Le Bas has previously been associated with Outsider Art
, a term used to refer collectively to self-taught, mentally ill
or otherwise unconventional artists working outside the confines of the art establishment. The genre is also known by the name "Art Brut", a term coined by the French artist Jean Dubuffet
circa 1945 to refer to works he collected that were "raw" or "ugly".
Galleria Sonia Rosso
Paradise Lost: The First Roma Pavilion at Venice Biennale
CHAVI: Reclaiming Gypsy Representation, Novas Gallery, London
"Room" Solo Exhibition at Transition Gallery
The Living Album: Hampshire's Gypsy Heritage
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Artist from a Romany background and wife of artist Damian Le Bas
Damian Le Bas
Damian Le Bas is an artist associated with the Outsider Art label, a term used to refer collectively to self-taught, mentally ill or otherwise unconventional artists working outside the confines of the art establishment...
.
Delaine Le Bas has shown her art extensively both in the UK and internationally, including at the International Festival of Singular Art, Roquevaire
Roquevaire
Roquevaire is a commune in the Huveaune valley between Aubagne and Auriol in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southern France. Its inhabitants are called Roquevairois....
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
; the American Visionary Art Museum
American Visionary Art Museum
The American Visionary Art Museum is an art museum located in the Federal Hill neighborhood at 800 Key Highway in Baltimore, Maryland and that specializes in the preservation and display of visionary art...
in Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
, U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Transition Gallery
Transition Gallery
Transition Gallery is a contemporary art project space in Hackney, East London. It is run by artists Cathy Lomax and Alex Michon. Transition Editions the gallery's publishing arm produces publications to accompany shows as well as two bi-annual magazines Arty and Garageland.-History:Transition...
and the 2005 and 2007 Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
Biennales. In June 2007 her work was included in the first Roma pavilion of the 2007 Venice Biennale
Venice Biennale
The Venice Biennale is a major contemporary art exhibition that takes place once every two years in Venice, Italy. The Venice Film Festival is part of it. So too is the Venice Biennale of Architecture, which is held in even years...
.
Le Bas has had several solo exhibitions, including "Room" at Transition Gallery
Transition Gallery
Transition Gallery is a contemporary art project space in Hackney, East London. It is run by artists Cathy Lomax and Alex Michon. Transition Editions the gallery's publishing arm produces publications to accompany shows as well as two bi-annual magazines Arty and Garageland.-History:Transition...
in London; "The House of the JuJu Queen" at Galerie Giti Nourbaksch, Berlin, and at Galleria Sonia Rosso, Turin.
Her work moves expansively from a unique series of thematic departures including nationhood, race, gender and relationships. These issues are explored through freely combined media. Embroidery, painting and decoupage/"femmage" interact with sculpture and installations that reflect domestic claustrophobia, the transient nature of modern materiality and the tensions that characterise Le Bas' own experience as a Gypsy. The boundary between embellished objects and recovered items re-deposited within the installation is deliberately tested and blurred. Tapestries adorned with the Artist's own stitching and brushmarks arte confronted by items with a less unequivocal history.
About her own work, Le Bas comments: "My work is at the point where Outsider
Outsider Art
The term outsider art was coined by art critic Roger Cardinal in 1972 as an English synonym for art brut , a label created by French artist Jean Dubuffet to describe art created outside the boundaries of official culture; Dubuffet focused particularly on art by insane-asylum inmates.While...
, Folk
Folk art
Folk art encompasses art produced from an indigenous culture or by peasants or other laboring tradespeople. In contrast to fine art, folk art is primarily utilitarian and decorative rather than purely aesthetic....
and Contemporary Art
Contemporary art
Contemporary art can be defined variously as art produced at this present point in time or art produced since World War II. The definition of the word contemporary would support the first view, but museums of contemporary art commonly define their collections as consisting of art produced...
meet, combining a visionary, conceptual and craft approach. I live and work in the same space 24/7 there is no separation of daily life and art they are both and one intertwined.
"As a Romany, my viewpoint has always been that of the outsider and this position of the 'other' is reflected in the materials and messages within my work. We live in a culture of mixed values and garbled messages. My works are crafted from the disregarded and disparate objects of the car boot sale and the charity shop. A bricollage of materials. Employing the materials of everyday, all formed together in a manner that allows them to be precious yet reclaimed."
Le Bas has previously been associated with Outsider Art
Outsider Art
The term outsider art was coined by art critic Roger Cardinal in 1972 as an English synonym for art brut , a label created by French artist Jean Dubuffet to describe art created outside the boundaries of official culture; Dubuffet focused particularly on art by insane-asylum inmates.While...
, a term used to refer collectively to self-taught, mentally ill
Mental illness
A mental disorder or mental illness is a psychological or behavioral pattern generally associated with subjective distress or disability that occurs in an individual, and which is not a part of normal development or culture. Such a disorder may consist of a combination of affective, behavioural,...
or otherwise unconventional artists working outside the confines of the art establishment. The genre is also known by the name "Art Brut", a term coined by the French artist Jean Dubuffet
Jean Dubuffet
Jean Philippe Arthur Dubuffet was a French painter and sculptor. His idealistic approach to aesthetics embraced so called "low art" and eschewed traditional standards of beauty in favor of what he believed to be a more authentic and humanistic approach to image-making.-Life and work:Dubuffet was...
circa 1945 to refer to works he collected that were "raw" or "ugly".
External links
Galerie Giti NourbakschGalleria Sonia Rosso
Paradise Lost: The First Roma Pavilion at Venice Biennale
CHAVI: Reclaiming Gypsy Representation, Novas Gallery, London
"Room" Solo Exhibition at Transition Gallery
The Living Album: Hampshire's Gypsy Heritage