“Penrose” wrote Andre Breton “est Surrealiste dans l’amitie” and ‘The Friendly Surrealist’ is an apt description for the man who more than any other nurtured friendships and connections which introduced European Surrealism to the British art world. Roland Penrose embraced the fantasies and rebellions of the Surrealist movement through his friendships with artists such as Picasso, Man Ray, Miro, Ernst and Tàpies. His own works, which often reveal the true emotions behind his relationships with his wives, Valentine Boue and Lee Miller, constitute an important contribution to British Surrealist art.
Building on her Forget Me Not series (2022), Joëlle Dubois’s work has grown into a trilogy of exhibitions that come together in this monograph as one powerful whole. In this poignant monograph, inspired by her mother’s Alzheimer’s, she explores themes such as loss, grief, memory, and love.
With intimate images ranging from self-portraits to tender scenes with her mother, Dubois unfolds a poetic reflection on connection, identity, and healing. For this series, she also presents impressive sculptural work for the first time, and this book gains an extra dimension with video stills. Dubois offers a raw, honest, and comforting portrait of life, loss, and hope for a new beginning.
With text contributions by, among others, Katrina Schwarz (Whitechapel Gallery, London), Christel Tsilibaris (BOZAR, Brussels), and Patrick Ronse (Be-Part, Kortrijk).