Join us for a live streamed event inspired by the major exhibition Hervé Télémaque: A Hopscotch of the Mind, presented by Serpentine and Aspen Art Museum, celebrating the work of pioneering Haitian artist, Hervé Télémaque.
Double Language invites world-renowned artists, writers and thinkers to respond to the rich visual lexicon crafted by Télémaque, and explore how his decade-spanning practice continues to influence the role of language and literature in art today.
Informed by and associated with many writers, Télémaque wrote experimental texts and integrated language into his visual work throughout his career. Often produced in critical dialogue with current events, Télémaque’s works confront historic and present-day racism and imperialism. His practice also explores and expresses Caribbean and diasporic identity through juxtaposed contexts and layered, multiple meanings. These resonate with what the artist calls ‘the force of poetic synthesis’ found in Creole language. The programme explores the relationship between literature and visual art, taking inspiration from how Télémaque’s work drew on idioms, multilingual experience in the Caribbean diaspora, and incorporated language into painting.
Hervé Télémaque: Double Language begins with a deep dive look into the making of the Serpentine and Aspen Art Museum exhibitions by Joseph Constable, a film-poem by artist Julien Creuzet and a reading of a new text by writer Marie-Célie Agnant. It continues with a discussion between artists Janiva Ellis and Adee Roberson, a new film by artist Manuel Mathieu, a previously unseen conversation between Hans Ulrich Obrist and Télémaque in his Paris studio, and a newly-commissioned film by artist manuel arturo abreu.
Presented in collaboration with Aspen Art Museum.
Hervé Télémaque: A Hopscotch of the Mind is on view at Aspen Art Museum until 26 March 2023.
