Isabella Ducrot

Born 1931 in Naples, Italy

Lives and works in Rome, Italy

Isabella Ducrot is known for her devoted use of woven cloth as the founding material of her paintings. Only beginning her artistic career later in life, the Italian artist has assembled a sublime collection of antique textiles through her extensive travels through Asia, originating primarily from Turkey, India, China, Tibet and Afghanistan.

Ducrot’s first source of inspiration comes from the so-called weft of these fabrics. By bringing them to light and stretching them ever-so lightly, whether linen, silk, wool or other, the weft becomes visible, revealing the original architecture of the material, composed of crossing threads and voids. Ducrot has specifically made the checkered cloth her signature material, believing strongly in its expressive force, seeing it as an independent formal element and end unto itself. The extreme nudity of the checkered pattern offers the artist endless possibilities for artistic intervention.

Isabella Ducrot's solo exhibition Profusione is currently on view at Le Consortium Museum in Dijon, running until September 2024. Ducrot also created a monumental scenography for Dior's spring 2024 haute couture show. Her large-scale installation Omaggio a Mishima (Homage to Mishima) was part of Art Basel's Unlimited sector in 2022. Among Isabella Ducrot's solo exhibitions are Sadie Coles HQ, London; Standard, Oslo; Belenius Stockholm; San Giuseppe alle Scalze a Pontecorvo, Napoli; Galerie Gisela Capitain, Cologne; T293, Rome; Galerie Mezzanin, Geneva; Capitain Petzel, Berlin; Spazio Parlato, Palermo and Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, Naples. In 2014, Ducrot held a significant exhibition at the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea in Rome. Additionally, she participated in the Venice Biennale in 1993 and 2011. 

Ducrot is also the author of numerous publications including Women’s Life (2021); La stoffa a quadri (also translated and published in English as The Checkered Cloth) (2019); Suonno. Il sonno e il sogno nella canzone napoletana (2012); Fallaste Corazón (2012); Pensiero religioso ed elettricità (2011); La Matassa Primordale (2008); and Bianca di Pelle (1995). Her work is held in the permanent collection of the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Rome.