Isabelle.D

Isabelle D (1966, France)

Isabelle.D grew up in Algeria and her work can be interpreted as a new form of feminist practice, linking together traditional means of production with timeless as well as autobiographical subject matters exploring contemporary feminism and the translation of ‘Trauma into Beauty’.

Born in France in 1966 and grown up in Algeria, child of black feet, Isabelle.D’s upbringing was constellated by strong female figures that have inspired her childhood and her present art practice. Memories play a crucial role in Isabelle.D’s oeuvre, in her autobiographical quest to relive moments of the past permeated by manual processes, historically associated with female work, like sewing, knitting and crocheting.

Isabelle.D’s most notable body of work can be described as sculptural paintings through which the artist unconsciously draws the viewer’s attention towards the actual process of creation rather than solely on the resultant art object. Isabelle.D’s work is strong and materic, when confronted with it, the viewer first encounters the materiality of the process and the manual, time-consuming craftsmanship that led to the creation of such works. Crocheting, embroidering, weaving, knitting, dismantling previously existing objects to create new individual strings to be reused in constantly changing contexts – represent the backbone of Isabelle.D’s body of work.

Eventually, the first encounter with the manual process of creation leaves its place to the interpretation of the subject matter. The artist explores themes linked to the unconscious, stereotypical feminine life through specifically nostalgic and introspective visual references of her own. Stripping materials away from their original meaning and context is the tool through which the artist engages with what has historically been the competence of women. Personal experiences are masterfully crafted into the work by means of rigorous patterns, omissions, acceptance and refusal. Each creative action, somewhat unintentional, is on the contrary clearly thought through and premeditated while opening up a multifaceted, free and anarchic process of interpretation.

Her recent works, though they appear coral-like, are abstracted landscapes that recently deals with the bruises caused by colonization; D. had selected her color palette carefully, as they often correlate to the coloration of a bruise in its various stages from purples to blues to greens to yellows.

Isabelle.D creates abstract landscapes as a mean to decolonize her past and reclaim the present to reconstitute and celebrate her memory, the self and her heritage.
 
 

Solo Exhibition
2023 – ‘Turning Trauma into Beauty’, Gallery Nosco, Brussels, Belgium
2022 – ‘1-54’, London with Gallery Nosco
2021 – ‘D for Detail’, Gallery Nosco, Brussels, Belgium

Group Exhibitions
2023 – FEMME F(R)ICTION, curated by 1760, NY, USA
– “ZonaMaco” with Gallery Nosco, Mexico City, Mexico
2023 – “Cube3”, London, UK
2022 – “Untitled Miami Beach” with Gallery Nosco, Miami, US
2022 – “Art Monaco” with Gallery Nosco, Monaco, France
2022 – “ZonaMaco” with Gallery Nosco, Mexico City, Mexico
2021 – “Untitled Miami Beach” with Gallery Nosco, Miami, US
2021 – “1-54”, with Gallery Nosco London, UK
2021 – “Frenetic Stanstill”, Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (GAM), Torino
2019 – “1-54”, with Gallery Nosco London, UK

Collection
Foundazione Andre Heller
De Rotschild Collection
POC, Gallila Hollender, Brussels
Almas Foundation, London
The University of Chicago

Press
2022 – “Artnews”
– “Artlyst”
– “RFI”
2021 – “AD Magazine”
2020 – “Artribune”
– “Corriere Torino”
– “El Giornal Del L’arte”