Damian Le Bas (30 January 1963, Sheffield – 9 December 2017, Worthing) was a British artist associated with the Outsider Art (or "Art Brut") label, as well a leading exponent of the "Roma Revolution" in art.

Damian Le Bas
Born(1963-01-30)30 January 1963
Died9 December 2017(2017-12-09) (aged 54)
NationalityBritish
OccupationBritish artist

Life edit

Le Bas was of Roma heritage.[1] Le Bas attended the Royal College of Art.[2]

He lived and worked with his wife, the Romany artist Delaine Le Bas,[2] in West Sussex on the south coast. He was the father of writer Damian Le Bas.

Collections edit

Since 1987 several of Le Bas' pieces are held in the Musgrave-Kinley Collection of works by key Outsider artists, administered by Monika Kinley, until her death in 2014.[3][4] His more recent work is found, among others, in the collections of Perpetuum Mobile.

Exhibitions edit

He exhibited frequently in the UK and Germany, and his works have been shown at Moderna Museet in Sweden,[5] in Japan, France, Finland and the United States. He was well known in Outsider Art circles, and was exhibited as part of a survey-show of Art Brut at Malmö Konsthall in 1991.[6] He was a participant of the Prague Biennale 3.[7] He exhibited at the Raw Arts Festival.[8]

In later years, the Traveller - Romani - Gypsy experience became a recurrent theme in his work. Le Bas was invited to participate in the 1st Roma Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2007.[9] He subsequently became a driving force behind the Perpetual Romani-Gypsy Pavilion in Venice in 2009[10] and the co-initiator of the 4th Roma Pavilion which took place in Berlin in 2013.[11]

He exhibited frequently in the UK and Germany, and his works have been shown in Japan, France, Finland, Sweden and in the United States.

References edit

  1. ^ "High-profile stories of children expose Europe's anti-Roma prejudice". The Globe and Mail. 31 October 2013. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  2. ^ a b Steward, Sue (29 October 2000). "Outsider dealing". The Observer. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
  3. ^ Dempsey, Andrew (6 April 2014). "Monika Kinley obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  4. ^ "Britischer Künstler: Damian Le Bas ist tot". Der Spiegel. 11 December 2017. Retrieved 11 December 2017 – via Spiegel Online.
  5. ^ a b "The Invisible Faces of Europe: Pop-Up Exhibition and Panel Debate - Perpetual Mobile". Perpetual Mobile. 30 November 2015. Retrieved 25 December 2017.
  6. ^ a b "SARLINGAR, Art Brut, Outsider Art ( 1991, Malmo konsthallas katalog )". Damian Le Bas | Art Brut. 9 March 2016. Retrieved 25 December 2017.
  7. ^ a b "PRAGUEBIENNALE3". Archived from the original on 4 April 2014. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
  8. ^ "Raw Arts Festival". Retrieved 13 April 2023.
  9. ^ a b "Paradise Lost: The First Roma Pavilion at the Venice Biennale". Open Society Foundations. 2007. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
  10. ^ "SUPPORTERS of the PERPETUAL ROMA-GYPSY PAVILION - Perpetual Mobile". Perpetual Mobile. 9 September 2009. Retrieved 25 December 2017.
  11. ^ "The 4th Roma Pavilion: SAFE EUROPEAN HOME? Berlin - Perpetual Mobile". Perpetual Mobile. 21 April 2013. Retrieved 25 December 2017.
  12. ^ Acton, Thomas. "Damian Le Bas". Universes in Universe. Retrieved 4 August 2014.

External links edit