Laurent Proux’s monographic exhibition “L’Arbre et la Machine” follows on from his research and creative residency in Saint-Claude, during which the artist met with workers, employees and craftspeople. In the course of his visits to local companies – Chacom, The ESAT Prestige Jura, Guichard, Jeantet, La Pessière and Medicos – he got to know the men and women who perpetuate the traditional skills the Haut Jura is renowned for.

These encounters, along with the artist’s observations, provided inspiration for his painting. On his return to the studio, accompanied by his memories, sketches and photographic notes, he rendered a portrait of the area, paying homage to its industrial and social identity. In these large-format, constructed paintings, Laurent Proux’s attention to the details of the machines, spaces and portraits places his realist painting in the tradition of Gustave Courbet.

Another series of paintings, quite distinct in appearance, is displayed alongside these canvases. Groups of human figures, situated in fantastical, scorched landscapes are associated with a variety of characters entangled in intimate scenes. The artist uses fragmentation, exaggeration and stylization to produce a representation of the body that is often disturbing, sometimes sentimental, yet always allegorical.

Laurent Proux’s paintings explore the body in its active capacity. Whether at work, displaying desire, clothed or nude, seen through the gestures of the worker or languorously, reclining figures, the human form is always depicted in its infinite potential for transformation or transcendence.