Baron's latest book is a collaboration with multidisciplinary  artist, Gab Bois, showcasing her extensive oeuvre of surreal photography, object design, sculptures and installations. 

 

This book embodies the playfulness at the heart of Bois' work, via an  interactive sticker cover, art directed by Max Siedentopf. Which encourages the reader to participate directly in their experience of the artworks, whilst imparting Bois' unique and imaginative way of viewing the world. 

 

The book also contains a behind-the-scenes peek into the artist’s creative process, including creative direction and design, and the practical dimensions that go into constructing her images.

 

Gab Bois's vision transforms everyday objects into something new, resulting in uncanny compositions that challenge conventional ways of interacting with the familiar. A wry humour and sense of whimsy are present throughout Bois' work, speaking to the intelligence and inventiveness that underpin her compositions. In the worlds conjured up by her photographs, a shell becomes a makeup compact, shoes are varyingly made up of bread, bok choi, and candy corn. 

 

Illusion is instrumental to these images, props are carefully constructed and staged to create a striking effect on the viewer. The fact that almost all of the items seen in Bois' images are either hand-crafted pieces, or found objects in assemblage, can, at times, defy credulity. Although Bois will occasionally re-touch photos, the artist limits technological intervention, preferring to photograph her concepts in their most fully-realised state. As a fine artist working in the AI era, Gab Bois' works play heavily with the idea of reality, subverting the viewer's first impressions and exploring whether the real now appears fake. Moreover, Bois' commitment to creating genuine props means her work resists categorisation, and locates her as a sculptor, craftwoman, and photographer. 

 

The self is deeply implicated in Gab Bois' work. The artist is usually the model for the pieces she creates, finding that self-portraiture allows her greater control over her practice. Her work, therefore, contains aspects of performance art, as she documents herself and makes these images available online for a public audience. The body is either used to model and add context to her crafted pieces (e.g., a bra made of tomatoes), or body parts are isolated and transformed entirely into something else (e.g., Velcro tongues). Explorations of the body have long been a Surrealist motif and, at times, Bois stages her body to merge the erotic with the bizarre. 

 

Some of her photos contain an edge of violence heightened by visceral textures— in one image, Bois displays a thong constructed of thorns; in another, her mouth is filled with cactus spines. However, it is not the body alone that is the focus of these images. Instead, how the artist's body interacts with inanimate objects activates and completes the compositions, cementing the complex entanglement of object-subject-performer-photographer contained within Bois' work.

 

Consumerism is another core theme of Bois' artworks, and she humorously satirises over-consumption and brand mania encouraged by the digital sphere. This is immediately achieved through counterfeit brand logos, as Bois creates Gucci-branded alphabet soup and paints Adidas stripes on her shorts with correcting fluid. Furthermore, her decision to construct garments and accessories out of food plays explicitly on the dual definition of consumption. It draws a parallel between the expiration of organic materials and the rapidity of trend cycles. 

 

The book also includes an essay by Olivia Whittick.

 

Gab Bois (b. 1997, Montréal) is a multi-disciplinary artist working primarily as a conceptual photographer. She began posting her photographs on social media, garneringa massive online following. Alongside her impressive digital portfolio, Bois has shown work internationally in both solo and group exhibitions. She has also launched her ready-to-wear capsule collection inspired by previous works, Canapés, and collaborated with brands including Nike, Marc Jacobs, Balenciaga, Valentino, and Jean Paul Gaultier. 

 

Soft back with wire binding

Sticker cover

150 pages

23 x 23  cm

Pre-order delivery September/October 2024