Baptiste Laurent

BAPTISTE LAURENT (Nantes, France, 1980).
"Punching woman", 2014.
Mixed media (collage, ink and acrylic) on paper.
Signed, dated and titled on the back.
Measurements: 140 x 110 cm.
This work is a deliberate departure from his usual procedures. The composition is built from drawings taken directly from a sketchbook and then assembled on a single surface, in a rare gesture in the artist's practice. This process gives the whole an experimental and fragmented dimension, in which each element maintains its original identity while being integrated into a visual structure of remarkable cohesion.
The result is a collage of great narrative intensity, which refers to a contemporary reality saturated with stimuli, tensions and superimposed signs. Each fragment functions as an autonomous narrative, loaded with meaning, while the whole proposes a broader reading of the disorder, friction and paradoxes of today's world. Of strong visual and conceptual impact, the work draws the eye with immediacy and asserts itself as an incisive reflection on the complexity and latent violence of our collective experience, qualities particularly valued in the context of the international market.
Baptiste Laurent is a visual artist based in Spain since 2007 and founder of the shared studio Latolier in the neighborhood of Usera (Madrid). He has exhibited in various national and international artistic and cultural institutions, such as the Palais de Tokyo, the National Museum of Anthropology or the Alliance Française. Self-taught, he combines his artistic practice with studies in political science and art history. He has worked as an art director and cultural manager in reference institutions such as the Venice Biennale and the Galleria Continua.