Galerie Nathalie Obadia is delighted to present a solo show of Laure Prouvost for the second time in Paris. Winner of the Turner Prize in 2013 - for the first time awarded to a French artist, Laure Prouvost has enjoyed great international visibility in 2016 and 2017 with solo shows at the Kunstmuseum Luzern, the Witte de With of Rotterdam, the Pirelli HangarBicocca of Milan, the SALT Galata of Istanbul and the CCA Laznia in Gdansk, among others. Another solo show of her work is currently being held at the Walker Art Center of Minneapolis up until February 11th and the Palais de Tokyo invited her in June 2018.
For about 15 years, Laure Prouvost has been developing a protean body of work giving shape to original stories and tales through videos, installations, performances, sculptures, photographs, paintings and drawings that she often combines with ceramics, tapestry and metal work. Real image archivist, whether she finds or collects them, the French artist mastered the compiling of this visual matter, which abundance captivates viewers.
The clever juxtaposition of real facts with elements she borrows from her complex family mythology, the incredible substance she manages to give to our five senses, her way with words or the seemingly casualness of her "visual and emotional trompe-l'oeil" are means to look at our contemporary reality with a sharp eye.
LOOKING AT YOU LOOKING AT US is a reference to Laure Prouvost's collaboration with Jonas Staal, The Aube's cure Parle Ment, curated by Iliana Fokianaki and showcased at the Kadist Foundation in Paris up until December 17th, 2017. At the gallery, Metal Men and Metal Women stand maybe in the Lobby, the Grand Hall of the just opened "Parle Ment" (1) waiting to welcome you and know more about you. Like strange silhouettes, these wrecked bodies made of sticks are mounted with disproportionate LCD TV screen heads broadcasting an endless flow of texts and saturated images.
Around the central platform, the Metal Men and Metal Women stand still while viewers walk around them in the hubbub of their confused thoughts made audible and visible by the artist. Five new tapestries were sewed by "grandma, who made them to decorate the entrance hall, offer you some tea or coffee and ponder over the state of the Parle ment's affairs" Laure Prouvost explains, while metal puppets with petrified postures invite us to look with a "mirror stick" underneath a ledge running along the gallery walls. Curious still society with the disturbing habits of exhibiting their thoughts, revealing what is hidden, reflecting through extremities and giving access to inaccessible nooks.
(1) Play on the French words "Parliament" made of the verbs "to speak" and "to lie".
