Universes in Universe - Worlds of Art

52nd Venice Biennale
10 June - 21 November 2007

Venice / 2007 / Tour / Roma Pavilion

09 of 25

Delaine Le Bas

 

 

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Damaged Goods. 2005
Installation, mixed media on fabric

"The nation's morals are like teeth: the more decayed they are, the more it hurts to touch them." George Bernard Shaw

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. There is no separation of daily life and art; they are intertwined. My works are the struggle to escape the stereotypes. I employ symbols that the viewer thinks they understand. I take these familiar images, retain their democratic nature but create a shift in their meaning.

Scratch beneath the glittery surface and you will see a violent undercurrent, exposing things for what they are, drawn in by the prettiness to be confronted by what lurks beneath the surface, the wolf in sheep's clothing being a reoccurring theme.

As a Romani, 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 the everyday, all formed together in a manner that allows them to be precious yet reclaimed.

Artist's statement

Print version
All texts and biographies

© Photos: Haupt & Binder

 

* 1965 Worthing (West-Sussex), United Kingdom; lives there.

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Venice / 2007 / Tour / Roma Pavilion