Laure Prouvost

Lives and works in Brussels

Laure Prouvost’s artistic output consistently returns to themes of escape into unfamiliar worlds or imaginings of unexpected alternative environments. A strong narrative impulse propels her practice, resulting in immersive, transmedial installations with interwoven story lines that combine fiction and reality. Her videos, installations, paintings and tapestries unhinge commonplace and expected connections between language, image, and perception. Stepping away from traditional linear narratives, the artist crafts sensual environments laden with playful mistranslation that open a space for the viewer to grapple with the unstable relationship between imagination and reality. The elasticity of the written word comprises a central element of Prouvost’s practice, stating: “Words for me are very visually powerful, because with words people create their own vision. I am just hinting and suggesting possibilities, the audience is making its own image in its head. It is also about misunderstanding, misinterpreting, miscommunicating – words also suggesting failure and other senses.”

She graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Central Saint Martins and a Master of Fine Arts from Goldsmiths College in London and took part in the LUX Associate Artists Programme. She received the Max Mara Art Prize for Women in 2011, the prestigious Turner Prize in 2013 and represented France 2019 at the 58th Biennale Arte in Venice.
Her most recent solo projects include: A Flying Grandma in Oslo, Esmé Blue in Busan, Helsinki, and Madrid, An Elastic Arm Hold in Tight in Copenhagen, A Swallowing and Breathing in Eindhoven, A Smoking Mother in Copenhagen, A Melting Into Another in Lisbon and Sonsbeek, An Occupied Paradise in Aalst, Deep See Blue Surrounding You in Venice, Toulouse, and Lille, A Waiting Room with Objects in Minneapolis, A New Museum for Granddad in Milano, a Tearoom for Grandma in Derry, A Karaoke Room in Brussels, A New Octopus Ink Vodka Bar for Gregor in Rotterdam, A Travel Agency for an Uncle in Frankfurt, A Lobby for Love Among the Artists in the Hague and Luzern … tea bags, and wet floors and tentacles.

Video