Tacita Dean produced blackboard drawings at the very early stages of her career, returning to this form in 2012 after a hiatus of a decade, with a series for Documenta 13. As is often the case with these works, she produced the two panels that constitute “The Wet Prayer” on-site. She first erased the two large slates onto which she had first drawn in 1992 to execute this scene of a storm as seen from the deck of ship.

This blackboard drawing was included in “De Mar en Mar”, an exhibition of her works dedicated to the sea, presented at Fundación Botín in Fall of 2013. In her work, Dean has regularly depicted the sea, whether in films, photographs or drawings: the relationship of humans to this essential element of nature has always been part of the artist’s source of inspiration.

TACITA DEAN, (Canterbury, Reino Unido, 1965). The Wet Prayer, 2013. Chalk on blackboard. Diptych 244 x 244 cm each