
Jesse Darling’s presentation for Art Basel Miami Beach revolves around the Greek myth of Tiresias: among other things the origin story of the Rod of Asclepius (the two-serpent staff currently used to signify medicine and healthcare), as well as an early written historical account of transgender experience.
Reading Tiresias through Freudian theory, the Derridean pharmakon and the great Italian folktale known as Dante's inferno, Darling recontextualizes this myth by breaking the signifier out of its form into multiple visceral accounts. Through drawings, sculptures, and copperplate etchings, new and otherworldly renditions of Tiresias take form for a more contemporary interpretation to emerge.


Colored pencil, paint pen & hand cut vinyl on pink paper
Drawing : 50 x 65 cm — 19 ¾ x 25 ½ in
Frame : 58 x 73 cm — 22 ¾ x 28 ⅔ in
Colored pencil, paint pen & hand cut vinyl on pink paper
Drawing : 25 ½ x 19 ¾ in
Frame : 58 x 73 cm — 28 ⅔ x 22 ¾ in
Colored pencil, paint pen and hand-cut vinyl on paper
Drawing : 50 x 65 cm — 19 ¾ x 25 in
Frame : 58 x 73 cm — 22 ¾ x 28 ⅔ in

Wood, aluminium, acrylic paint, oil paint, copper tape, jute
17 ¼ x 9 x 3 ½ in; 43,5 x 23,5 x 9 cm
Wood, aluminium, colored pencil on paper, moulding clay, acrylic paint, copper tape, ribbon, band-aid
17 x 9 x 3 ½ in; 43,5 x 24 x 9 cm

Jesmonite, pigment, plastic, brass, styrofoam
Height : 35,56cm
Height : 14 in
Silicone and pigment
118 in, 300 cm