We are delighted to welcome Chrystel Lebas as artist in residence at Hofgestüt Bleesern (Wittenberg). The ‘Passage’ residency format is project partner of KOBRA (Continuities and Interruptions – Prospects for the Future) which is funded by Aller.Land (A funding programme for culture, participation and democracy aimed at supporting structurally vulnerable rural regions throughout Germany). Bringing together people living in the Wittenberg region, the KOBRA project partners want to take a closer look at the cultural landscape and explore historical and contemporary layers. The KOBRA partners organise residencies for artists from the fields of visual arts, photography, literature, theatre and music. Our first KOBRA guest Chrystel Lebas will be examining the landscape around Hofgestüt Bleesern (built in1676) over the next four weeks based on a map from 1723. During her presence in Bleesern, there will be workshops, public walks, artist talks and film presentations. We have the opportunity to enable Chrystel Lebas to continue her work as a ‘Passage’ residency artist in 2023 as part of KOBRA.

The work of Chrystel Lebas examines the complexities of mankind’s relationship with nature. Through her photographic, sound and moving image works she investigates various landscapes and sites over time, documenting and revealing the various changes brought about therein by the interaction of both human beings and of nature itself. Working often in limited light and utilising the ‘uncertainty of the falling darkness at twilight’, Lebas produces large format, often panoramic and enveloping images of nature at its most remote, her beautiful and enigmatic works reflecting upon ‘notions of the sublime and our relationship to nature’.

Chrystel Lebas is a graduate from the Royal College of Art (London), her photographs and films have been widely exhibited. Works are held in several private and public collections. She has published three monographs: ‘L’espace temps-Time in Space’ (2003), ‘Between Dog and Wolf’ (2006) and ‘Field Studies: Walking through Landscapes and Archives’ published to accompany the exhibition at Huis Marseille Museum for Photography, Amsterdam (2017) that won the Kraszna Krausz Best Photography Book Award 2018 and Best Dutch book design 2016.

www.chrystellebas.com
Instagram: chrystel_lebas

Published: 12th August 2024