Leap

Maureen Paley is pleased to present Leap, the first exhibition of Delaine Le Bas at the gallery.

Her work spans objects, environments, textiles, costumes, and performances, occupying the intersection of the personal and the political, in dialogue with questions about land, movement, gender, and discrimination. At the centre of the exhibition is The Goddess, a figure Le Bas envisions as a connective thread between her past and current practices, and through which all other works in the show are linked. The sculpture combines newly handmade elements with found objects, incorporating collected textiles, handkerchiefs, and vintage fabrics. As Le Bas writes: "The Goddess is a call to action in the times we now find ourselves, their heart visible through their fragile torso, their skirt graffitied to reflect where we are now."

Also on view is a new series of works in Murano glass, made in collaboration with Studio Beregno in Venice. Produced in editions of two, the works retain visible differences between each pair — a quality Le Bas has embraced as integral to her broader inquiry into individuality and reproduction. "The alchemy of the process is full of surprises," she has noted. Drawing on the iconography of witches and outsider figures, the works, in her words, "conjure my vision and experience of England while existing as a being at the intersection of a society that still views many as the 'other.'"

The exhibition title, Leap, describes a movement that is at once backward and forward. As Le Bas shifts across scale, media, and modes of presentation, her practice remains grounded in both communal and personal histories. "This show is a Leap. I'm leaping back, and with my collaborators, we are that Leap of Leopards that are hard to spot sometimes, but when you do see us, you will not forget."