Ade’s art is a complex layering of symbolism and emotion. Read on to learn about how Alex Foster and the artist interprets her work.

Alex Foster:

‘A couple of weeks ago I visited Crystal Palace Park for the first time. Nestled between sphinxes and dinosaurs, the last remnants of a bygone colonial exhibition, gathered a very modern group of revellers. Dominated by red tartan plaid, pierced jackets, tattoos, and spikey hair the juxtaposition of the Punk festival in this park was stark. And yet, only when Iggy Pop finally blasted on stage growling and snarling did the veneer finally drop. Iggy was the embodiment of pure human emotion that tore through the trappings of the ‘punk groupee’. It not only displayed, but shredded, the veil of tribal belonging that all people inevitably prescribe to consciously or unconsciously and laid bare the core emotions common to all of us. This was his RAW POWER.

Having engaged in this visceral experience, I can begin to understand more deeply the meaning behind Ade Breton’s artwork. The eye is often considered the window of the soul. Peel this back and you see peoples’ carnal desires; ‘The Deadly Sins’.

It is telling that almost all of Adeline’s figures are faceless. These are the core emotions, raw and unfettered. The eyes are there but often separate from the figures. Is this one soul looking in on another or the lifting of the veil? Like the Many Faced God in Game of Thrones we are all of these emotions and yet none, changing as easily as the seasons. As a collection then is this a portrait of society or the representation of the individual in its true uncovered state?’

Ade grew up in France in the 90s – 2000s with a feeling of an unstoppable and systemic acceleration. The rise of extreme consumerism, globalisation through the internet, the influence of Japanese pop culture, social networks, reality TV . . . and climate change. A society that has never been so rich, accessible, unequal . . . paradoxical.

Ade explores her relationship with her body and sexuality through the personification of Lilith, a forgotten pagan goddess now a symbol of feminist struggles and openness to a free and assumed femininity.

The eyes recount a traumatic experience that Ade had as a child, with a spiritual outlook. Ade uses the eye, a known symbol of openness, to represent acceptance of our multi-faceted nature through a multitude of colours and forms and our animality; the eye is common to all species, universal, it is a door for our spirit, a link between the mind and the body.

Please join us for Ade’s event on 11th August from 5:30pm. Ade will be doing an artist talk from 6:30pm. Please RSVP to our event for free here.