An Evening with Barbara Chase-Riboud
To celebrate the opening of her first UK solo exhibition Barbara Chase-Riboud: Infinite Folds at Serpentine, as well as the publication of I Always Knew: A Memoir (Princeton University Press, 2022), Barbara Chase-Riboud will be in conversation with Yesomi Umolu, Director of Curatorial Affairs and Public Practice, Serpentine.
Presented in collaboration with Institut français du Royaume-Uni and Princeton University Press.
Following the talk, attendees will have the opportunity to purchase signed copies of I Always Knew: A Memoir by Barbara Chase-Riboud.
Barbara Chase-Riboud: Infinite Folds features a focussed selection of large-scale sculptures alongside works on paper dating from the 1960s to the present day from artist, novelist and poet Barbara Chase-Riboud (b. 1939, Philadelphia, USA, lives and works in Paris, France). The show marks the UK debut presentation of some never-before-seen pieces, as well as some of the most celebrated works in the artist’s expansive oeuvre.
I Always Knew is an intimate and vivid portrait of Chase-Riboud’s life as told through the letters she wrote to her mother, Vivian Mae, between 1957 and 1991. In candid detail, Chase-Riboud tells her mother about her life in Europe, her work as an artist, her romances, and her journeys around the world, from Western and Eastern Europe to the Middle East, Africa, the Soviet Union, China, and Mongolia.
- Artist Biography
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Barbara Chase-Riboud’s recent exhibitions include: Alberto Giacometti / Barbara Chase-Riboud: Standing Women of Venice – Standing Black Woman of Venice, Institut Giacometti, Paris (2021); Barbara Chase-Riboud: Avatars, La Verrière, Fondation d’entreprise Hermès, Brussels (2020); Barbara Chase-Riboud – Malcolm X: Complete, Michael Rosenfeld Gallery LLC, New York, NY (2017); Barbara Chase-Riboud: The Malcolm X Steles, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA (2013); and Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, CA (2014), among many others.
Parallel to her visual and sculptural practice, Chase-Riboud is a distinguished poet and writer of historical fiction. In 1974, she published her first book of poetry, From Memphis & Peking, which was edited by Toni Morrison, and in 1979 she published her first novel, Sally Hemings. Her poetry collections include Portrait of a Nude Woman as Cleopatra (1987) and Everytime a Knot is Undone, a God is Released (2014), and her widely translated novels include: Valide: A Novel of the Harem (1986); Echo of Lions (1989); The President’s Daughter (1994); Hottentot Venus: A Novel (2003); and The Great Mrs. Elias: A Novel (2022).
