Sven Laurent - Let me shoot for you

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EXHIBITION
14.01 - 18.03.2023

Fragments of solace, box galerie, Brussels, Belgium.

/
Some days I feel invisible,
I feel like I’m going to dissolve

into fear, sadness and anxiety.

On those days I make pictures,
no more doubt, no more questions,

just the moment, peace and tranquility.

/

WORKS

Teloni a mare I, II, III, IV
Pigment print, framed with museum glass
80 x 120 cm (each)
2022

Plaster column in rolling bag
Pigment print, framed with museum glass
80 x 120 cm
2019

Fluorescent light tube in the sand
Pigment print, framed with museum glass
80 x 120 cm
2014

Duct tape frame
Pigment print, framed with museum glass
80 x 120 cm
2019

Dark is the sea
Pigment print, framed with museum glass
80 x 120 cm
2014

Fragments of solace
Poem, lettraset on gallery wall
Variable size
2018

Bathroom jungle
Pigment print, mounted on aluminium and wood
40 x 60 cm
2015

Smashed window
Pigment print, mounted on aluminium and wood
40 x 60 cm
2020

Beach and bruise
Pigment print, mounted on aluminium and wood
40 x 60 cm
2020

Tiles and pallet
Pigment print, mounted on aluminium and wood
40 x 60 cm
2022

The blinking horse - Lusitanien homozygote
Pigment print, mounted on aluminium and wood
40 x 60 cm
2016

Gasoline bird
Pigment print, mounted on aluminium and wood
40 x 60 cm
2021

Brick wall, wooden beam and pavers
Pigment print, mounted on aluminium and wood
40 x 60 cm
2015

I think we should talk
Pigment print, mounted on aluminium and wood
40 x 60 cm
2021

Sansevieria, tape and fold line
Pigment print, mounted on aluminium and wood
40 x 60 cm
2020

One piece missing
Pigment print, mounted on aluminium and wood
40 x 60 cm
2015

The weight of tension
Pigment print, mounted on aluminium and wood
40 x 60 cm
2020

Green leaf floating after the rain in Brown valley
Pigment print, mounted on aluminium and wood
40 x 60 cm
2020

Crouching creature
Pigment print, mounted on aluminium and wood
40 x 60 cm
2021

Birds flying in the evening light
Pigment print, mounted on aluminium and wood
40 x 60 cm
2020

Finishing detail
Pigment print, mounted on aluminium and wood
40 x 60 cm

Pink hydrangeas in blue vase
Pigment print, framed with museum glass
8 x 12 cm in 28 x 35 cm
2020

FR (english below)

Quelle que soit leur discipline, pour certains artistes – et non des moindres – il ne paraît nullement nécessaire de courir aux antipodes pour trouver l’inspiration, construire une série, voire bâtir une œuvre. Sven Laurent est assurément de ceux-là. L’essentiel de sa quête, il peut l’accomplir sur un territoire restreint, au sein d’un périmètre limité à quelques hectomètres carrés, à quelques pâtés de maisons autour de chez lui, en plein cœur de Bruxelles. Arpenter ces quelques rues à proximité immédiate de son lieu de vie est devenu un besoin impérieux, tant physique que mental. Il considère la photographie comme étroitement liée aux notions de réconfort et de contemplation. Pour lui, chercher – et trouver – beauté et poésie dans son environnement proche est devenu un acte nécessaire afin de répondre à l’agitation politique et sociale du monde. Au fil de ces déambulations quotidiennes, l’anodin se verra magnifié, le banal transcendé. Un tube néon abandonné sur un lit de sable? Une œuvre d’art minimal. Une palette déposée sur quelques carreaux de céramique? Une pièce abstraite finalement plus à sa place dans un musée que sur ce trottoir sans intérêt. Une antique colonne de plâtre émergeant d’une valise à roulettes? Une installation contemporaine radicale. Une bâche de plastique recouvrant un conteneur de chantier? Une déclinaison de vagues et de vaguelettes, la mer. Sculptures involontaires, associations incongrues qui n’auraient pas déplu au comte de Lautréamont... Cela était là lorsque le photographe est passé. Il a vu, s’est ému, a cadré, déclenché. Il n’en fallait pas plus. Comme le veut l’expression, «l’aventure commence (parfois) au coin de la rue.» Pour peu évidemment que l’imagination consente à faire le reste. Si la poésie consiste en partie à transcender le quotidien, Sven Laurent est à n’en pas douter poète. Il n’invente rien, se contentant (!) d’ouvrir l’œil pour, plus tard, ouvrir les nôtres. En photographe de talent, il voit ce qui nous échappe et nous le montre sans fard, prompt à partager ses émerveillements tranquilles et discrets.

Alain D’Hooghe

EN

No matter their discipline, for some artists – and not least – it does not seem necessary to race to the other side of the world to find inspiration, build a series, or even build a whole body of work. Sven Laurent is definitely one of them. The essence of his quest, he can accomplish it in a small territory, within a perimeter limited to a few square hectometres, a few blocks around his home, in the heart of Brussels. Walking these few streets in the immediate vicinity of his living place has become a pressing need, both physical and mental. He considers photography closely related to the notions of comfort and contemplation. For him, seeking – and finding – beauty and poetry in his immediate surroundings has become a necessary act to respond to the political and social unrest of the world. In these daily wanderings, the anodine will be magnified, the banal transcended. An abandoned neon tube on a sand bed? A minimal work of art. A palette placed on a few ceramic tiles? An abstract piece finally more in its place in a museum than on this sidewalk without interest. An ancient plaster column emerging from a rolling suitcase? A radical contemporary installation. A plastic tarp covering a construction container? A variation of waves, the sea. Involuntary sculptures, incongruous associations that would not have displeased the "Comte de Lautréamont"... This was there when the photographer passed. He saw, was moved, framed and triggered. That's it. As the saying goes, “The adventure begins (sometimes) around the corner.” Of course if the imagination agrees to do the rest. While poetry is partly about transcending everyday life, Sven Laurent is no doubt a poet. He does not invent anything, just (!) opening his eyes to open ours later. As a talented photographer, he sees what escapes us and shows it to us without blush, willing to share his quiet and discreet wonders.

Alain D’Hooghe