Delaine Le Bas is an artist with a Romany background. Her works explore the experience of intolerance, misrepresentation, transitional displacement and homelessness, and she employs a range of mediums including film, photography, installations and performance.
In 2016, Le Bas contributed to the discussion ‘Establishing National Pavilions: Roma and Seychelles’ at Iniva about the complexities of setting up an art pavilion and recognition within an international art exhibition for national and cultural identity. Le Bas was joined by Curator Timea Junghaus (via Skype) and artists Nitin Shroff, Léon Radegonde (via telephone), and Daniel Baker. In 2015, Iniva hosted a Research Network Meeting presenting artist talks by Le Bas and artist Corrina Eastwood, who shared Le Bas’ interests surrounding the politics, history and current situation of English Gypsy Romani identity in the UK.
Performances by Le Bas have taken place both in and outside of the gallery and make use of the body as a metaphor for prejudice, racism, and stolen artefacts. Having graduated from St Martins School of Art studying MA Fashion & Textiles, clothing and fabric is often an important aspect in her work which is often treated with embroidery, paint, and textile embellishments. The use of clothing extends to her installations, where issues of stereotyping are alluded to.
Her works have been included in: ‘Paradise Lost’, The First Roma Pavilion, Venice Biennale 2007; ‘Refusing Exclusion’, Prague Biennale, Prague, 2007; ‘Biennale Cuvee’, OK Centre for Contemporary Art, Linz, Austria, 2008; ‘Living Together’, Montehermoso, Vitoria Gasteiz and MARCO, Vigo, Spain, 2009; ‘FutuROMA’, Collateral Event for The 58th Venice Biennale, Italy, 2019; ‘Orlando in the present time’, Wolfson Gallery, Charleston, UK (2018 & 2019).
Solo shows include ‘Tutis A Rinkeni Moola, Abri’, Yamamoto Keiko Rochaix, London (2019); ‘The House of Le Bas Gypsy Couture’, ANTI: Athens Biennale 2018, Athens, Greece (2018); ‘Witch Hunt’ shown at aspex, Portsmouth, UK, Chapter, Cardiff and continues to Context, Derry in the Summer 2010.
Her works are represented by Sonia Rosso Gallery, Turin and Galerie Giti Nourbakhsch, Berlin.