No. 80: Lauren Daccache
A paper dollhouse from eBay, collected fruitstamps, a photo from the top of the empire state building (1978), the palm beach hotel in Beirut, and an envelope from the Arab games.
Lauren Daccache is a visual artist born in Dallas, raised in Beirut, and currently based between the Catskills and New York City. Her practice is centered around photography and image-based archives, guided by a deep sense of reverence and curiosity for her roots. As seen in her current show at show at Catskill Art Space (on view until April 26), Lauren’s work draws visual connections across time, layering family heirlooms, textiles, photographs, and collected historical ephemera. These patterns intertwine personal memory with preservation, honoring her family’s past while shaping future narratives. From Lauren –
I. a paper dollhouse (1977)
+ a photo of the view of the roof of a traditional Lebanese home from my aunt and uncle’s balcony in beirut (2023)
i found this paper dollhouse on ebay, and cannot bring myself to take it out of the packaging. the details - the rug, the flowers, the girl holding coffee - are perfect. i think i’ll enlarge each piece and make a giant dollhouse for kids to play with.
II. a used envelope (1957)
+ photos of my younger brother pierre, running in our grandmother’s garden (2023)
i’ve been collecting used mail for a few years. this envelope is from the 2nd “jeux panarabes” (arab games), held in beirut in 1957. Wikipedia says “The first Games took place in 1953 in Alexandria, Egypt. Intended to be held every four years since, political turmoil and financial difficulties have made the event an unstable one. Women first competed in 1985.”
the last time the arab games were held was in 2023 in algeria.
III. a collection of fruit stamps (1962)
+ a photo of the fruit on my teta’s kitchen counter (2022), and a photo of my teta’s hands cutting into an apricot (2024)
i think stamps can be the most beautiful paper things, and fruits can be the most beautiful edible things, so to see them together is a joy.
IV. a picture envelope
+ a photograph of my grandmother at the top of the empire state building (1978)
clearly i have strong feelings for paper ephemera. remember when we used to get stacks of pictures in envelopes from the photo store? look at this envelope. “send more than words. everyone loves pictures.” good copy. and that green! and then of course, what it contains:
my grandmother is notoriously well-documented in our family but this is one of the only photos of her in new york city that I’ve seen. i’ll be going to the top of the empire state building in her fur coat (she gave me a similar one to the one she’s wearing in this photo) to recreate this.
V. a hotel postcard (1956)
+ a photo of my aunt (2024) standing on the balcony of the palm beach hotel
this postcard is part of a scrapbook i found, put together by a woman named Sally Scully, who did a “biblical tour of the middle east” (ie. Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Egypt) with her husband James Scully in the summer of 1956 (they were traveling in the midst of the Suez Crisis). the palm beach hotel has been closed for many years, and my aunt has been helping renovate it in hopes of reopening soon.
BULLETIN
Los Angeles
On view: Rachel Jones’ Dark-Pivot and group show with works by Naotaka Hiro, Elliott Hundley, Tadáskía open Saturday at Regen Projects. Residency and exhibition of live drawings by Drake Carr at Megan Mulrooney. Robert Russell’s Stateless Objects and group show Scratches of Film open Saturday at Anat Ebgi. Jim Jarmusch’s Some More Collages at James Fuentes. Emilie Louise Gossiaux’s Votives at Castle. Brenna Youngblood’s R.A..D…I..O. at Roberts Projects. Cy Twombly at Maison D’Art. Hailey Heaton’s Hissyfit at Authorized Dealer. Maia Cruz Palileo’s Sator Rotas at David Kordansky. Noelia Towers’ An Account of Preceding Events at De Boer. David Hammons’ Concerto in Black and Blue at Hauser & Wirth. Earthshaker featuring works by Ana Mendieta, Derek Jarman and P. Staff at Del Vaz. Issy Wood’s Wet and Reckless at Michael Werner. Tschabalala Self’s Dream Girl at Jeffrey Deitch. Lisa Yuskavage at David Zwirner. Rae Klein’s Doublecross and Teresa Murta’s To Meet on the Riverbend at Nicodim. Moment Eternal commemorating Alice Coltrane at The Hammer. Laura Soto’s Fixation: Process: Ritual at The Box. Gustave Caillebotte: Painting Men at The Getty.
New York
On view: Xi Li’s To Put an Image in Front of the Thing at Latitude. Robert Morris’ Seeing and Space at Castelli. Helena Foster’s Time Honored at Kasmin. Timothy Lai’s Still Yet Still and group show Out of Flame open tomorrow at Jack Barrett. Erin Morris’ 5-7 Business Days opens tomorrow at Europa. Eiko G.’s Closer Look opens Saturday at Harkawik. Group show Thresholds opens Saturday at Olympia. Caroline Walker’s The Holiday Park at Grimm. Fa Razavi’s Opera Rose at Palo. Chis Lipomi’s On the Occasion Of… at Galerie Timonier. Aaron Angell, for Troy Town, and Cadis’ RITES OF SPRING at TIWA. Nel Verbeke’s The Mirror at Dusk at Emma Scully. Elizabeth Ravn’s Forecast at David Peter Francis. Sarah Faux’s Autofriction at Hales. Leonard Baby’s The Babys and Colleen Barry’s Good Mud at Half Gallery. Seung Ah Paik’s Body Cartography at Gratin. Dustin Hodges’ Barley Patch at 15 Orient. Group show Giant Women on New York at James Fuentes. Group show Forget-Me-Nots at 1969. Magnus Maxine’s Flowers Aqua Seafoam Shame Simple Selfish Sun at King’s Leap. Kent O’Connor’s Flame of Vapor at Matthew Brown. Emma Rose Schwartz’s The Missing Link in Modern Spiritualism at Derosia. Sharif Farrag’s Hybrid Moments at Jeffrey Deitch. Walton Ford’s Tutto at Gagosian. Sarah Charlesworth’s Desire and Seduction at Paula Cooper. Ben Werther’s Townworld at Amanita. Group show A Direct Response to Light: 21st Century Painting at Alexander Berggruen. Group show Anywhere but Here at Candice Madey. Group show with works by Anni Albers, Josef Albers, and Paul Klee at David Zwirner. Robert Zehnder’s Resurrection and Felix De Clercq’s Friends and Lovers at Clearing. Ivan Morley’s Tragegedy, [sic] at David Kordansky. Hope Atherton’s Umbra at Gratin. Clare Woods’ A Kinder Time at Stephen Friedman. Group show Landline with works by Leonard Baby, Bernie Kaminski, Karyn Lyons, and Gösta Peterson at Turn. Leo Mock’s There Are Kisses Left Undelivered at Anton Kern. Emma Webster’s That Thought Might Think at Pretzel. Mungo Thomson’s Time Life and A Universal Picture at Karma. Joan Jonas’ Empty Rooms and Aaron Gilbert’s World Without End at Gladstone. The Loving Cup at Jacqueline Sullivan Gallery. Christian Marclay’s The Clock, Vital Signs:Artists and the Body, and Pirouette: Turning Points in Design at MOMA.
Affection Archives is a weekly look into the affections of yours truly (Arielle Eshel) & people I admire.