Camille Henrot. Mother Tongue

Paintings and drawings exploring the contradictions of attachment and separation

Over the past 20 years, French-born, New York–based artist Camille Henrot (born 1978) has developed a critically acclaimed practice deploying mediums such as drawing, painting, sculpture, installation and film to address subjects ranging from self-help and cultural anthropology to social media in its engagement with the changing status of information distribution and interpersonal connections.

Mother Tongue is Henrot's first publication focused solely on painting and drawing, bringing together over 200 works from the series System of Attachment, Wet Job and Soon, spanning the past five years, which address ambivalent aspects of care and the tension between the human developmental need for attachment and separation, beginning at infancy and continuing throughout life. The book is accompanied by texts from Emily Labarge, Legacy Russell, Marcus Steinweg, Helene Cixous and Seamus Kealy, and a conversation between Camille Henrot and curator Julika Bosch.