“ If my body would govern itself as well, according to my rule, as my mind does, we should move a little more at our ease. 
Montaigne, Essays.
 
The work of Laure Forêt is rhizomic. It is on the side of the forms which repeat these little veins that one has under the skin, the sap which circulates in the trees and the plants, it is on the side of the rootlets, nerves, channels, tributaries. Laure Forêt experiences how it runs on surfaces, beneath surfaces, something that hydrates, ramifies, splits, unfolds, divides, spreads, radiates, proliferates. Something we share, we, humans, animals, plants, rocks, land, water, is drawn by the attentive artist. If I wrinkle my skin or someone else's, if I look closely at the leaves, the shells, if I absorb myself in the folds of a fabric ... Filaments, a set of filaments, mycelium, and the spider, and the silkworm, the matter of their threads secreted by their bodies.

Immaculate whites, broken white, other fabrics are more ivory, more cream, more epidermal, beige cosmetic from stained glass cells, transparency of the veil, matte fabrics, some satin, folds. Wine-red, crimson velvet, bright red, thickness of the glass, red like a sea anemone from the drawings in threads that are also orange, coral orange. The range: white to red, and all that between that refers to the envelope of the flesh and the care that one carries to it. Matt. Gloss. Transparency.

The materials take over the body, everything grows, floats, grows, falls. Under the ground, under the skin, under the acute gaze of the microscope, it is swarming with lines. Not deeply, just below, a sub-epidermis of the world.

Text by Christine Lapostolle

  

EXHIBITIONS (selection)

2024
February : Objet textile, group show, Manufacture de Roubaix (FR)
May : Les liaisons désireuses, group show, Kasteel d'Ursel, Bornem (BE)
July : Aqua, group show, Latuvu, Bages (FR)

2023
10 years, what a surprise, group show, Eva Steynen. Deviations Gallery, Antwerp (BE)
De kamers van Zé, group show, in situ space, Antwerp (BE)
4 mains, 1 Equipe, group show, Galerie Vertige, Brussels (BE)
Something Beautiful, group show, LaVallée, Brussels (BE)
Etoffes, Centre de la laine et de la mode, group show, Verviers (BE)
Skin in the game, group show, Black Swan Gallery, Bruges (BE)

2022
Art au Centre #8, art walk in Liège City (BE)
Perspectives, group show, Galerie Martine Ehmer, Brussels (BE)
Un été à Fontevraud, group show, Abbaye Royale de Fontevraud (FR)
Fragments, group show, Galerie Vertige, Brussels (BE)

2021
Tout connaître, rien comprendre, group show, Lien Bonte gallery (BE)
Légendes botanniques, group show, Château de Menthon-Saint-Bernard (FR)
A soft Gentle Breeze, group show, Villa les Zéphyrs, Middelkerke (BE)
Transparence, group show, Galerie Vertige, Brussels (BE)
Romanesque, group show, Festival d'art contemporain en Brionnais, Bourgogne (FR)
Une baie au port, group show, Altitude 2028, Clermont-Ferrand (FR)
Inclinations, group show, Atelier des Capucins, Mons (BE)
Passie / Obsessie, group show, CC Sint-Niklaas (BE)
Something beautiful, group show, LaVallée, Brussels (BE)
Etoffe(s), group show, Wool and fashion museum, Verviers (BE)
Hidden Structures, group show, Streetview Anderlecht, Brussels (BE)

2020
M-A-L-M, group show, Collectif d'en face, Rouen (FR)
Post Covid, group show, Latuvu, Bages (FR)
En campagne, solo show, Fort Saint Héribert, Namur (BE)
20 ans de résidences, group show, Centre d'art de Pontmain (FR)
Paravent, solo show, Ophelia Lingerie (BE)
Inside out, group show curated by Art Cares Covid, Musées Royaux des beaux Arts de Belgique (BE)
Survive, group show, Fort 5, Edegem (BE)
Me, Myself and I, group show, Black Swan Gallery, Bruges (BE)
Beestig?, group show, Stadsfestival Damme (BE)

2019
Works of art, group show, Kastelstraat gallery, Watou (BE)
Entre le sommeil et le songe, group show, Black Swan Gallery, Bruges (BE)
Lagunes, solo show, Latuvu, Bages (FR)
Crossings, group show, Third art biennale of Mountados (GR)
Le voyage à Xhignesse, group show curated by Lieux Communs, Xhignesse chapel (BE)
Lijf & Beeld, group show, Ten Bogaerde Art center, Koksijde (BE)
Larguer les amarres, group show, Chapelle des Calvairiennes Art center - Le Kiosque, Mayenne (FR)
Inner / Outer, group show, De Ververij Culture center, Ronse (BE)

2018
Soft?, group show, Gallery Sofie Van de Velde, Antwerp (BE)
2angles fête ses 15 ans, group show, 2angles, Flers (FR)
Objet textile, group show, Manufacture de Roubaix (FR)
Speed dating, La mariée se dévoile, performances, Musée de la vie wallonne, Liège (BE)
Erosion
, duo show with Colette Schenk, Cultural Center of Chênée, Liège (BE)
Á fleur
, solo show, ESPE and BU, University of Alençon, Damigny campus (FR)
Duo show with Myriam Hornard, curated by Dorothée Van Biesen, L'Usine Galerie, Liège (BE)
ORGAN_ICON, group show, B.A.R. (Bureau d'Art et de Recherche), Roubaix (FR)

2017
BYPASS, group show, Eva Steynen.Deviation(s), Antwerp (BE)
PEAU, group show, Fabrica114, Paris (FR)
Ce qui demeure, duo show with Denis Cantiteau, 2angles, Flers (FR)
À corps ouvert, duo show with Douce Mirabaud, Musée du Vieux-Château, Laval (FR)
Ombilic, solo show, ZAN Gallery (FR)
Inner Nature I, group show, Kasteelstraat 1 gallery, Watou (BE)
Le Kabinet de la sculpture, group show, Le Kabinet, Brussels (BE)
De visu, group show, Abbatiale Saint Ouen, Rouen (FR)

2016
La peau, group show, Cultural center of Chênée, Liège (BE)
ITHAKA Anatomé, Visual arts festival, group show, LOKO Cultuur, Louvain (BE)
Rencontres Traverse Vidéo 2016, group show, Toulouse (FR)
Ce qu'il y a de plus profond, solo show, Eva Steynen.Deviation(s), Antwerp (BE)
Maagdenvlies, solo show, P37 gallery, Liège (BE)
No comment, group show by P.R.E.S.T.I.G.E., Studio F., Ghent (BE)
Kunstwedstrijd Klein Sculptuur, CC Zwaneberg, Heist-op-den-Berg (BE)

 

2015
A belgian politician, group show, Marion de Cannière Art Space, Antwerp (BE)
Duo show with Cédric Guillermo, Art Center of Pontmain (FR)
Group show curated by Jolien Dirix, DE Brandweer Kantine - Kunsttour Maastricht (NL)
Parcours, group show, Pôle muséal de Mons - Magasin de Papier, Mons (BE)
Dessin Quotidien #1, group show, La Manicle/Satellite Brindeau, Le Havre (FR)
Touch-lines #2, group show, Eva Steynen.Deviation(s), Antwerp (BE)

 
  
 

RESIDENCIES / AWARDS  
2022 Residency Entre les murs, 2019 Abbaye Royale de Fontevraud - Centre Culturel de l'Ouest, supported by Pays de la Loire Region (FR)
2019 Residency at Latuvu, Bages (FR)
2019 Residency at contemporary center Le Kiosque - Chapelle des Calvairiennes, supported by the Flemish Government (FR)
2018 Residency at Isola Comacina, Lake Como, supported by the Flemish Government (IT)
2017 Residency at 2angles, Flers (FR)
2016 Nominee for the Kunstwedstrijd Klein Sculptuur, CC Zwanenberg (BE)
2016 Winner of the aid of Laval (FR)
2015 Residency at Art center of Pontmain (FR)
2009 Aid for an exhibition from the Ambassade de France en Belgique (BE)
2007 Frans Masereel Centrum, Kasterlee (BE)



PERMANENT ARTWORKS 
Pensées, Monumental installation, Abbaye Royale de Fontevraud (FR)
Cellules II (à Olympe), Bibliothèque Universitaire, Alençon University (FR)


 

PUBLICATIONS
2022 Art au centre #7, text from Marjorie Ranieri
2022 Perspectives, Galerie Marthine Ehmer, from Mireille Liénard
2021 Légendes botaniques, Château de Menthon, from Raphaële de Broissia
2021 A soft gentle breeze, Villa les Zéphyrs, from Els Wuyts
2019 Larguer les amarres, Le Kiosque - Chapelle des Calvairiennes, text from Mathias Courtet
2017 Ce qui demeure, 2angles, texts from Christine Lapostolle and Jérôme Letinturier
2016 Très cher, galerie Eva Steynen. Deviation(s), text from Eva Steynen
2016 L’atypique trouble, Traverse Vidéo 2016, text from Simone Dompeyre
2016 Ithaka Anatomé, Ithaka - Loko Cultuur, text from Sarah Verplancke
2016 Dessin quotidien #1, La Manicle/Satellite Brindeau, filmed interview by Jérôme le Goff(> video)
2016 Touch-lines #2, Eva Steynen. Deviation(s), text from Eva Steynen
2015 Parcours, Pôle Muséal de Mons
2015 Résidences 2015 - Laure Forêt, Art Center of Pontmain, text from Eva Prouteau
2015 Laure Forêt, Editions Derrière La Salle De Bains, Red Box collection
2014 Mon chéri, Editions Derrière La Salle De Bains, Pickpocket collection
2014 D!NG #8, online magazine by Jolien Dirix
2010 [Don’t] Mind the Body, texts from Eva Steynen
2009 Touch-Line, Laure Foret, Etienne Fouchet, Nina Vanhee, texts from Eva Steynen

 

STUDIES
2002 - 2007 : Studies in the European School of Arts of Bretagne, Quimper (FR)
2007 : DNSEP art option with magna cum laude (Master)
2005 - 2006 : Studies stay in Sint Lucas University College of Art, Antwerp (BE)
2005 : DNAP art option with magna cum laude (Licence)