James Webb

Blaise Adilon

Venue

URDLA Villeurbannne

Metropolitan area

Born 1975 in Kimberley, South Africa.
Lives and works in Cape Town, South Africa, and in Stockholm, Sweden.

Known for his site-specific interventions and sound installations, James Webb introduces objects into different contexts in order to create possible new forms of understanding and communication with the public. At URDLA, he questions a vase for theriac, a medicine that used to be made at the Hôtel-Dieu from minerals, snakes and opium, and was considered a “universal remedy”. He poses various questions to this museum piece, which Lyon residents in the 17th century viewed as a powerful symbol of health and protection. By questioning the object – in the context of a global pandemic – on the healing of body and mind and the creation of a community in the face of disaster, James Webb invites the public to look afresh at this artefact and ponder its many experiences.

Also on view at the Fagor Factories, the garden of the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon, the Parc de la Tête d’Or and the macLYON.