The artist presents a two-part installation inspired by the aesthetic and sensuous pleasures of Italy. Referencing the genre of panoramic painting, Prouvost creates a cylindrical structure interspersed with collages and monitors.
Laure Prouvost, winner of the Max Mara Art Prize for Women, presents the two-part
installation Farfromwords: car mirrors eat raspberries when swimming through the
sun, to swallow sweet smells at the Whitechapel Gallery from 20 March – 7 April 2013.
The new commission is the culmination of the fourth edition of the prize.
Laure Prouvost’s work opens new horizons of meaning by unhinging the connection
between language and understanding. Her new video and installation in Gallery 1 is
inspired by the aesthetic and sensuous pleasures of Italy and plays on the historic idea
of visiting the Mediterranean for inspiration.
Farfromwords comprises a large-scale pavilion-like structure recalling a historical
panorama. A circular space is interspersed with collaged elements, including
photographic prints, paint and pairs of video monitors showing footage of moving
heads and feet. This immersive environment leads to an idyllic inner space revealing a
new film, Swallow (2013). The gentle rhythm of breathing accompanies surrealist
imagery and shots of blue skies, ripe fruit and modern-day nymphs. By conveying
visual and sensory pleasure through fragments of footage, the film alludes to events
and encounters from the artist’s Italian residency split between the city of Rome and
rural Biella.
The exhibition will tour to the Collezione Maramotti in Reggio Emilia, Italy from
4 May – 10 November 2013, where the work will be acquired by the collection.
A book published by Whitechapel Gallery in collaboration with Collezione Maramotti
will accompany the exhibition. Exploring the stages of the fourth edition of the Prize,
the publication will include an interview with the artist and Bina von Stauffenberg,
Guest Curator and essays by Daniel F. Herrmann, Whitechapel Gallery Eisler Curator
and Head of Curatorial Studies and Melissa Gronlund, Editor at Afterall.
On Thursday 4 April 2013 Prouvost discusses her recent work with curator Daniel F.
Herrmann. The event will be accompanied by screenings of film works by the artist
including extracts from Abstractions Quotidiennes (2005), Stong Sorry (2010) and
It Heat Hit (2010).
The biannual Max Mara Art Prize for Women promotes and nurtures female artists
based in the UK, enabling each winning artist to develop their potential by producing
new works of art during a six-month residency in Italy. The judges for this fourth
edition of the Prize included Iwona Blazwick [Chair]; artist Lisa Milroy; art collector
Muriel Salem; gallerist Amanda Wilkinson, and writer and critic Gilda Williams.
Iwona Blazwick OBE, Director, Whitechapel Gallery said, ‘The Whitechapel Gallery has
a long tradition of premiering female artists. For the fourth edition of the Max Mara Art
Prize for Women we’re pleased to present a major new work by Laure Prouvost.
Prouvost is an artist with an appetite for exploring different cultures and she seizesthe artistic potential of her impressions to create gripping films and installations. It is
fascinating to see how she has drawn from her Italian residency, bringing together the
sensuous and surreal in her work.’
Luigi Maramotti, Chairman of Max Mara said, ‘For the Max Mara Art Prize for Women,
our aim has always been to champion and support female artists, and provide them
with the gifts of time and freedom in order to create a body of work. We are delighted
that the sights and sounds of Italy have so inspired Laure Prouvost in her ambitious
new installation. It will be a pleasure to present her work in the Collezione Maramotti
in Reggio Emilia in the summer, following her exhibition at the Whitechapel Gallery in
London.’
Notes to editors
Laure Prouvost was born in 1978 in Croix-Lille, France and lives and works
in London. In 2011 she was awarded the Max Mara Art Prize for Women,
chosen from a distinguished shortlist of artists which included Spartacus
Chetwynd, Christina Mackie, Avis Newman and Emily Wardill. Laure
Prouvost graduated from Central Saint Martins in 2002 and was part of the
Lux Artist Associate Programme. Her work includes film, performance and
installation. She has been part of group shows at Tate Britain, the ICA,
Serpentine and BFI Galleries. She was awarded the EAST International
Award in 2009 and a FLAMIN commission in 2011. Laure Prouvost is
represented by MOTINTERNATIONAL.
For over a century the Whitechapel Gallery has premiered world-class
artists from modern masters such as Pablo Picasso, Jackson Pollock, Mark
Rothko and Frida Kahlo to contemporaries such as Sophie Calle, Lucian
Freud, Gilbert & George and Mark Wallinger. With beautiful galleries,
exhibitions, artist commissions, collection displays, historic archives,
education resources, inspiring art courses, dining room and bookshop, the
Gallery is open all year round, so there is always something free to see. It is
a touchstone for contemporary art internationally, plays a central role in
London’s cultural landscape and is pivotal to the continued growth of the
world’s most vibrant contemporary art quarter.
The Max Mara Fashion Group was founded in 1951 by Achille Maramotti
and is now run by the next generation. It is one of the largest women’s
ready-to-wear companies in the world, with 2334 stores in more than 100
different countries.
On 29 September 2007 the Collezione Maramotti opened to the public in
Reggio Emilia, Italy.
Events Programme
4 April In Conversation: Laure Prouvost
The ‘In conversation’ event with Laure Prouvost and Daniel F. Herrmann
takes place on Thursday 4 April, 7pm in the Zilkha Auditorium, Whitechapel
Gallery. Tickets are £8/6 concessions.
The exhibition will move to the Collezione Maramotti from 4 May–10 November 2013.
Press Information
For further press information please contact: Alex O’Neill on 020 7539 3360 or email alexoneill@whitechapelgallery.org
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