MARTIN LAFORÊT: VARIATIONS
7070 Santa Monica Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90038
A selection of Martin Laforêt’s new artworks from his Variations collections are exhibited in this show, Variations. The colourful and unique artworks pay homage to the levity and charisma he conjures from concrete, his material of choice. Laforêt’s methodological means of assembling purified structures from ‘poor’ materials such as concrete or lumber aligns him with the principles of arte povera. Laforêt considers his creative gesture as more important than the final objective artwork, elevating humble materials beyond sight of their origins.
Harry Nuriev, Léa Mestres and Martin Laforêt present concurrent solo shows at Carpenters Workshop Gallery Los Angeles, entitled Denim House, Family Business and Variations respectively. Although presented separately, the exhibitions provide a cohesive look at the talents of the three artists currently defining the next generation of contemporary art.
French designer Martin Laforêt was born in July 1991. Raised in Paris but now living in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, Laforêt creates objects and furniture. His work does not follow any specific course of conduct, yet one can easily discover his overall use of techniques and interest in materials.
Inspired by artisan skills and the intelligence of the hand, “My work is an attempt to bring out the specific personality of materials and to produce original shapes. I search for a self-expression often inspired by my current interest in shapes and material combinations. I like objects attached to the domain of sculpture, industry, and architecture.”
Laforêt’s first collection ‘The Mould Objects’ was created with moulds that were used as casts but also incorporated into the final piece. “The interplay between the inverse mould and positive form lends a poetry to the industrial construction materials I use, which includes concrete, aluminium, wooden shuttering, and steel rebars.”
The objects created by Laforêt are inspired by precast concrete blocks. Precast concrete is a construction product produced by casting concrete in a reusable mould or form which is then cured in a controlled environment, and transported to the construction site.
As with these precast blocks, ‘The Mould Objects’ were shaped both by their function and moulding constrains. This technique relates the objects to the domain of industry and architecture. The origin of the objects’ concrete blocks look ambiguous, it can be difficult to discern if these blocks have been either made for the objects or have been collected on a building site.