SCHECHTER, Asha ; BOUKOBZA, Julie (eds)
Studio of the South (Atelier du Sud)

A book about the Studio of the South residency – a project hosted in Arles by LUMA and artist Laura Owens between September 2020 and July 2023—in a house where 23 artists came to stay, work, and live.

During her residency Owens first created handmade ceramics, elaborate site-specific mosaics, silk-screened curtains, hand-embroidered pillows, paintings, drawings, and murals, before she subsequently invited artists to continue the project. The domestic environment of this house-cum-studio was thus shaped by the imprints that each person left behind. It was invested and embellished with multiple artistic contributions—drawings and paintings on the walls, installations in situ, texts, newspapers, collages, painted furniture—and animated by events programmed by the residents. By inhabiting the house, the artists gradually transformed it into a total, collective, and immersive work.

Studio of the South interrogates how the spaces in which artists live and create influence their production. It also examines the promises offered by collaboration as a form of artistic practice, and the importance of leaving large urban centers to work differently. Lastly, it discloses the notion of the domestic sphere as a place of artistic experimentation.

Introduced by Laura Owens, the book features contributions by Bice Curiger, Maja Hoffmann, and Julie Boukobza, as well as testimonials by the artists in residency: Candida Alvarez, Alvaro Barrington, Julie Beaufils, Nova Bryan, Julien Ceccaldi, Jacob Eisenmann, Gabriele Garavaglia, Charlotte Houette, Gary Indiana, Parker Ito, François Lancien-Guilberteau, Sadie Laska, Miriam Laura Leonardi, Eric Palgon, Blake Rayne, Adee Roberson, Andy Robert, Clément Rodzielski, Asha Schechter, Alake Shilling, Naoki Sutter-Shudo, Alicia Vaïsse, Mona Varichon, and Alexander Zevin.

The visual documentation includes images of in situ artworks, a comprehensive photo-reportage of the house as if the reader were following a special guided tour, facsimilies from the guestbook, and residency ephemera.

[publishers’ note]

Published by Luma Foundation / JRP, 2025
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