Laure Prouvost
°1978, Lille (FR) – lives and works in Brussels (BE)
Laure Prouvost’s work often engages with language through installation and film, creating an unexpected and often humorous detachment between image, language, and the perceived meaning. Her juxtaposition of images and texts prompt an exploration of the imagination and the surreal that immerses the viewer in a playful questioning of experience and meaning.
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 storylines 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.”
(courtesy of Carlier Gebauer)

Prouvost had solo exhibitions including shows at Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt; Haus der Kunst, Munich; Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Berlin; New Museum, New York and Extra City Kunsthal, Antwerp. Her work has been show in several group exhibitions, such as FRAC Bourgogne, Dijon; Den Frie Centre of Contemporary Art, Copenhagen; The Royal Academy, London; Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna; KAI 10 Arthena Foundation, Dusseldorf and Portikus, Frankfurt.
In 2011 Prouvost won the Max Mara Prize for Women, which led to her 2013 exhibition at the Whitechapel Gallery – for which she was awarded the UK’s prestigious Turner Prize.
Laure Prouvost is represented by the following galleries;
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Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris / Brussels
Lisson Gallery, London / New York / …
You can view more work on Laure Prouvost’s own website.