Dom Sylvester Houédard: FrOg, pOnd, plOp

Dom Sylvester Houédard: FrOg, pOnd, plOp
By Ananda Pellerin & Hannah Lack (eds)
Designer: Emma Singleton
Publisher: Atelier Éditions, BMCM+AC, Lisson Gallery

An ever-evolving series of experimental chapbooks exploring the longstanding engagement between art, faith, and spiritual practices. The series is a collaboration between Atelier Éditions and Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center (BMCM+AC).

Faith in Arts Volume 6: Dom Sylvester Houédard: FrOg pOnd plOp, was published in collaboration with Lisson Gallery.

Dom Sylvester Houédard, aka dsh (1924–1992) was a visual artist, poet, and openly queer Benedictine monk with strong interfaith leanings. dsh (as he often signed his work) led an unconventional life between the hushed cloisters of an English abbey and the bohemian art world of London.

dsh was fixture on the art scene in 1960s London, a Derek Jarman collaborator, fluxus contributor, and prolific letter writer to artists and poets around the world, an incredible feat for anyone at that time - let alone a monk. A captivating and elusive figure, dsh's incredible skill in creating elegant, graphic images with a typewriter is testament to the nights he stayed up late tapping away at his Olivetti in his abbey cell.

This volume explores the polymath’s faith and art, with an illuminating essay by dsh scholar Nicola Simpson, personal memories from Lisson Gallery founder Nicholas Logsdail, and an exploration of dsh’s ties with Black Mountain College by Ananda Pellerin. Included is a fascinatingly diverse selection of dsh’s iconic and rare works, poetry, and correspondence from archives across the world.