Bubu de La Madeleine began her artistic career in the early 1990s as a member of the Kyoto-based performance group Dumb Type, which was known for its politically charged, caustic and funny portrayal of the world through the use of technology. Since then, La Madeleine has pursued a solo practice encompassing performance, installation, text and video. A recurring theme is the mermaid: a figure that exists between two realms, the sea of the dead and the land of the living.
In La Madeleine’s conception, the body represents the boundary between the Self and Other. The artist draws upon her lived experiences, including as a sex worker and family caregiver: in A Mermaid’s Territory – Flags and Internal Organs (2022), she imagines the mermaid’s shedding scales as an allegory of her own hysterectomy and oophorectomy, as well as the sloughing skin of a dermatological disease. Here, the idea of a transforming body is translated into a succession of flags that soar in the air, liberated from earthly constraints.
La Madeleine is deeply engaged in civil activism, particularly in support of people living with HIV/AIDS, sex workers, women and the queer community. She also continues to perform regularly in clubs as both a drag queen and king, contributing to queer nightlife culture in Japan. Her collaborative work with Yoshiko Shimada is also featured in the Biennale Arte.
—Johann Fleuri
