Feue La Joyeuseté/Works on Paper

Arpaïs Du Bois’ book, Feue La Joyeuseté, further opens the door to her intense universe. The publication, designed by un’dercast, combines her output on paper from the last four years. Extensively introduced by Damien Sausset and including a letter by Philippe Van Cauteren (director of SMAK, Ghent), this book is the ultimate successor of her previous publications – all of them specific gems, both for their concept as for their design. Feue La Joyeuseté takes you on a road trip inside the artist’s brain and makes you a spectator, a witness instead of a passer-by. With more than 450 works on paper, it is opulently illustrated.

A soft voice, almost a whisper in the noise of the world. A soft voice that tells of time standing still, of wanderings of the soul, of trials of the heart. And about the impending thunder or the breeze that makes the canopy sway. A soft voice in which the suspicion of death roars as fiercely as the vibrant hopes of everyday life. Anyone willing to listen to it will hear all this in the sentences of Arpaïs Du Bois. For this ‘secret’ artist writes words, loose thoughts or snippets of text on sheets of paper that still shiver from the colours they have drawn. No beautiful poems or heroic stories here. The power of these words lies in something quite different. How do you draw with and against language?

Text in English, French and Dutch.