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‘Terroir’ is sometimes described as the soul of French wine. The term refers to the soil in which the grapes grow, the climate, and how the grapes are harvested and processed. But is terroir not also a fiction? A romantic construct sustained solely as a marketing concept? These are among the central questions in the work of Lena Longefay (1996). Longefay grew up in a family of winemakers in the French region of Beaujolais and, alongside her practice as an artist, also works as a sommelier. Through paintings, installations and performances – often in the form of wine tasting sessions – she questions the folklore, traditions and social practices associated with wine and viticulture.
For La Chanson à Boire de la Douleur de la Terre (2025) – literally The Drinking Song of the Pain of the Earth – Longefay drew inspiration from theatre sets, altarpieces and comic-like depictions of saints in medieval manuscripts. The work conveys the complexity of winemaking, highlighting the tension between the pleasures of wine and its harmful consequences, as well as between traditional and modern methods of production. The title is borrowed from a symphony by Gustav Mahler. The front of the work presents a tranquil, undulating landscape with circular paintings in which (fantastical) stories of wine production are depicted. The reverse reveals the other side: a partially worked wooden structure that serves as the seemingly unstable support for the romantic narrative of winemaking. Suspended between the two are small triptychs showing figures who have become unwell from drinking wine.
Written by Esther Darley