An e mail written by the US-born English artist Chantal Joffe to the British author and cultural critic Olivia Laing in April 2016 sparked a friendship anchored by joint pursuits and shared insights that has now been changed into a brand new ebook, Portray Writing Texting.
“I’ve been studying your ebook The Lonely Metropolis: The Artwork of Being Alone and I needed to write down and say how superb it’s,” wrote Joffe. “I found Henry Darger’s work about 15 years in the past. I’m so thinking about the way you write about him and [Edward] Hopper, [Andy] Warhol and [David] Wojnarowicz.”
The brand new ebook contains ten essays by Laing, who identifies as non-binary, interspersed with a chronological sequence of work by Joffe relationship from 2016 to 2025. The textual content and pictures dovetail, reflecting the individuals, locations and milestones in each of their lives.
Chantal Joffe’s Olivia within the Silk Coat (2025) Courtesy of Victoria Miro and MACK
“Portray Writing Texting means so much to me—to assemble collectively these essays which turn out to be a type of portrait of me, by Olivia, and of our friendship,” Joffe tells The Artwork Newspaper. “Greater than that, although, the making of the ebook itself was an perception into how Laing works, the rigorous considering that goes into each resolution, which is all the time so evident of their writing.”
Laing in flip astutely dissects Joffe’s artwork, noting within the essay ‘A Completely different Door’: “What’s lovely to me is the depth of her regard. It’s like she scrapes off some kind of poisonous outer layer, a clean plastic. She permits her sitters to own themselves, to be beautiful, idiosyncratic, clever, mortal, their eyes extensive, wrapped in a daydream or trying boldly again.”
The pair clicked as a result of the alliance is predominantly about making, writes Laing, and the “profession points that may loom so massive with fellow practitioners—offers and prizes, exhibitions and awards—might be set firmly of their correct place, on the periphery”. The bottom line is working with somebody who excels in a unique self-discipline, Laing provides.
Joffe’s Self-Portrait (2018) Courtesy of Victoria Miro and MACK
“You chop to the chase of what you’re actually thinking about moderately than getting caught up in ‘Are you doing higher than me? How’s this going?’ Additionally, we’re each actually within the course of of constructing, the levels the place one thing’s actually new. We present one another work fairly early on,” Laing says. The pair’s blunt correspondence is each comical and disarming. “To textual content a photograph of a brand new portray, to e mail a primary chapter, topic heading ‘Is that this shit???’” Laing says, referring to certainly one of their exchanges.
Joffe sums up the method behind the ebook, saying that it was a uncommon likelihood to work collaboratively. “Most of all we had enjoyable doing it, right here in London in my studio with all of the pages unfold out on the studio flooring, speaking and arranging the pages and stopping to eat egg rolls and drink tea. I’m unhappy that we’ve completed it now.”
• Chantal Joffe and Olivia Laing, Portray Writing Texting, Mack, 192pp, £40 (hb)
