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Modern Nature An Hommage to Derek Jarman, part III at La Becque

January 27, 2022

Artists: Adrien Chevalley, Ecstatic Antibodies, round table, Nina Emge & Charlie Usher, Marie Griesmar, Anne-Laure Franchette, Sunil Gupta, Astrit Ismaili, Tarren Johnson & Joel Cocks, Gleisson Juvino, Kali Malone and Leila Bordreuil, Julie Monot, Garrett Nelson, Real Madrid, Anthony Pateras, Prem Sahib, TETI (Anne-Laure Franchette, Gabriel, N. Gee, José Cáceres), Terre Thaemlitz, Alexander Tucker

Exhibition title: Modern Nature: An Hommage to Derek Jarman, part III

Curated by: Elise Lammer and Luc Meier

Venue: La Becque, La Tour-de-Peilz, Switzerland

Date: September 03, 2021 – January 31, 2022

Photography: All images are courtesy of the artists and La Becque. Copyright: Julien Gremaud; Manon Briod

Alcea rosea ‘Blacknight’, Alcea rosea ‘Mars Magic’, Allium christophii, Allium schoenoprasum, Allium sphaerocephalon, Anthemis nobilis, Aster ageratoi-des ‘Edzo Murasaki’, Centranthus ruber ‘Coccinueus’, Crambe maritima, Echinops ritro ‘Veitch’s Blue’, Elichtotrichon sempervirens, Erigeron karvinski-anus, Euphorbia myrisinites, Festuca maieri, Foeniculum vulgare, Helianthemum ‘Bronzeteppisch’, Hyssopus officinalis, Iris germanica ‘Buttered Popcorn’, Knautia macedonia, Molinia caerulea ‘Heidebraut’, Origanum vulgare, Papaver orientale ‘Beauty of Livermere’, Phlomis fruticosa, Rosmarinus officina-lis, Salvia nemoros a ‘Caradonna’, Salvia officinalis, Santolina rosmarinifolia, Sedum h. ‘Hersbtfreude’, Sedum palmeri, Stachys bysantina, Stipa gigantea, Thymus serpyllum, Tulipa kaufmanniana ‘Scarlet Baby’, Verbascum bombyciferum

Conceived jointly by curator Elise Lammer and La Becque, Modern Nature: An Homage to Derek Jarman is a project which comprises the development of a garden and an artistic program inspired by the life and work of Derek Jarman (1942-1994). Created especially for Modern Nature, the garden located on the lakeside grounds of La Becque is a tribute to the one Derek Jarman developed around his Dungeness cottage in the later years of his life and a reinterpretation of the principles that guided him throughout his gardening process.

Since 2019, this place within a place at La Becque has served as a platform for interventions by Swiss and international contemporary artists – both close collaborators of Jarman and artists whose practice strongly resonates with his – addressing the global question of identity, notably through avant-garde practices exploring sexuality and gender. Conceived as an open- ended process of layering, the synergies both documented and undocumented taking place between the artists’ contributions and the garden flora gradually grants the garden its autonomy, eventually embodying what a living archive could be.

In resonance with the current health crisis and its impact on artistic production, this third part of Modern Nature will be dedicated to the AIDS crisis, whose Swiss history and impact on culture still seems relatively unknown. Derek Jarman, who died in London in 1994 after a long illness related to HIV, left his mark on a whole generation for his fight against the stigmatisation and discrimination of people living with HIV/AIDS. Through his prism, and that of the garden he inspired, Modern Nature proposes to re-examine the notions of community and of sanitary isolation (whether voluntary or forced) and the cultural scenes that emerge from or are affected by them.

Terre Thaemlitz, Interstices (2001-2003). Video Installation

Tarren Johnson & Joel P. Cocks, Clear (2021). Performance

Real Madrid, A shack of wealth (2021). Series of sculptures produced in partnership with CCS Paris

Nina Emge & Charlie Usher, Psychic Rally in Heavens (2021). Sound installation

Kali Malone & Leïla Bordreuil, duo concert performance for organ, electronics and cello at Church of La Tour-de-Peilz (Temple de Saint-Théodule) (2021)