SUMMERTIME

(1929 – 1992)

Stories be told.

From 1929 to 1992, the stories are retold over the course of a summer day. An archive photo discovered during an excavation session becomes the starting point for the investigation. I follow up the thread and investigate.

The intimate image is the preamble to a reflection on themes that are important to me, either personal or contextual, such as family, sibling relationships, gender, or even the mechanisms of reminiscence.

The stories are told through a corpus of archive photographs collected over the years. The techniques (oil, monotype, screen printing, pastels, video, etc.) alternate and the images change tones as the story unfolds.

 

 

A DAY AT THE LAKE, 1929

Three brothers and two sisters-in-law are out. Paul is the youngest. It is said about him in the family that he is an eternal bachelor, that he has “manners”.
Memory of a day at the lake.


JUDITH AND TIM, 1931

Judith is my grandmother. She died in 1993 and I know little about her. I learned that she had a brother, Tim.


LES TONDEURS DE GAZON, 1972

Yves is an advertising employee for a Swedish lawn tractor-mower company. He participates with his colleagues in a conference in the United States

SMIMMING-POOL, 1976

It is English side summer, teenagers are havfun on the diving board. Meanwhile there is an killerwhale in the middle of the pool.


THERESE’S WEDDING, 1992

Party favors and spinning napkins. At cousin Thérèse’s wedding, the party was in full swing and I remember that.

A day at the lake, 1929

It’s summer in 1929. Three brothers and two sisters-in-law are out.

Paul is the youngest. It is said about him in the family that he is an eternal bachelor, that he has “manners”.
Memory of a day at the lake.

 

 

Au lac, 2022
Huile sur toile / 210 x 140 cm

Le déjeuner sur l’herbe, 2022
Huile sur toile / 116 x 81 cm

The gang, 2022
Sérigraphie / 40 x 32 cm

Dans l'arbre

Pause en route, 2022
Sérigraphie et pastels secs / 40 x 32 cm

Isabelle, Louise, Paul, Henri, Gaston, 2022
Pastels secs sur papier Fabriano / 20 x 20 cm

Paul, 1929

Of the Uncle Paul born in 1906 I remember the single bed in the family home. I found drawings and ink from his youth.

Shame or pride, I wonder: what was going through Uncle Paul’s head before leaving for the ball?

 

Es-tu fier de toi ?, 2021
Dessin sur photographie numérique 

Paul, 2022
Sérigraphie / 20 x 15 cm

Es-tu fier de toi ?, 2022
Peinture murale, Turin (Italie)

Avant de partir au bal,
Encre, 30 x 20 cm

Au bal, 2021
Sérigraphie / 40 x 32 cm

Judith and Tim, 1931

Judith is my grandmother, who died in 1993. I have her first name on my identity papers, but I know little about her.
English, she grew up in Kenya. I learned that she had a brother, Tim.

Judith and Tim, 1931. Image d’archive.

Judith and Tim, 2022
Huile sur toile / 116 x 81 cm

Judith and Tim, 2022
Sérigraphie / 40 x 32 cm

Tim joined the Royal Marines, 1944
Monotype sur papier japonais / 50 x 35 cm

Dans l'arbre

 Tim hits South Pole II/II, 2022
Monotype / 70 x 50 cm

Les tondeurs de gazon, 1972

1972, USA. Yves is an advertising employee in a Swedish lawn mower tractor company.
He is participating with his colleagues in a seminar in the United States.

The lawn mowers are out.

 

The view, 2022
Huile sur toile / 160 x 140 cm

The view, 1972. Image d’archive.

Dans l'arbre

Boys and cars, 2022
Sérigraphie / 64 x 40 cm

Dans l'arbre

Bunny weenie, 2022
Sérigraphie / 40 x 32 cm

The crew, 2022
Sérigraphie / 40 x 32 cm

Swimming-pool, 1976

 

It’s summer in the English countryside. A killer whale emerges from the water.
In suspension, it is about to tap with its nose a fluorescent yellow balloon which is swinging at the end of a string.
The same summer two sisters and a brother laugh on the diving board. They have fun jumping into the water. They no longer speak to each other today.
Sometimes it seems to me that the situation can become as big as a killer whale in the middle of a swimming pool.

Swimming-pool, 2022
Huile sur toile / 100 x 100 cm

L’orque dans la piscine, 2022
Huile sur toile / 100 x 100 cm

Le mariage de Thérèse, 1992

 

Thérèse is a cousin from Pau, from a branch with which we have lost connection. 
I remember her wedding with very specific flashes when I look at the photos of all party fun – and spinning napkins.
I’m three and a half years old and this is my first dated memory. However, I don’t know if I remember it because the photos exist,
or because the intensity of the party stayed with me.

La chenille, 2022
Huile sur toile / 100 x 70 cm

Les serviettes qui tournent,
Sérigraphie 10 couleurs / 64 x 40 cm

Dans l'arbre

A table 2022
Transfert à l’eau 29,7 x 21 cm

Dans l'arbre

Cotillons 2022
Suspension murale, encre textile sur chemise YSL années 90

Caroline Delétoille

STUDIO

La Fabrique, atelier d’artistes
2 rue Edouard Vasseur
94200 Ivry, France