The outcome of two years of writing and documenting Joshua Leon's own research processes, the publication comprises original writing alongside archival imagery.
Joshua Leon's first book accompanies his new commission at Chisenhale Gallery, London. Tracing history, memory and self across time and site, the text traverses locations including a synagogue in Bordeaux, an American bar in Vienna and a veneer factory in London's East End to reflect on the experiences of the Jewish diaspora in Europe and the formation of contemporary Jewish identity.
Throughout, archival materials and images collected by Leon–architectural blueprints, immigration documents, musical scores and family photographs–visually trace slippages between personal and wider social histories. At once a fragment, a memoir and poetic prose, The Process details the varied ideas, intellectual figures and experiences that coalesce in Leon's work, whilst complicating the role of artistic production in acts of repair, restoration and remembrance.
Joshua Leon (born 1994) is a writer, poet, and artist based in London. His text-led processes produce artworks and exhibitions that bind memoir with historical research. Spanning sculpture and sound, the installation traces a collapsing of personal memory and historical record to offer a nuanced exploration of Jewish life.
