Laure Prouvost. Melting into one another ho hot chaud it heating dip

Laure Prouvost. Melting into one another ho hot chaud it heating dip
20.02.2020 – 16.05.2020

opening 20.02.2020 18:30

Kunsthalle Lissabon presents Melting into one another ho hot chaud it heating dip, the first solo show in Portugal by Laure Prouvost (Lille, France, 1978). The exhibition marks Kunsthalle Lissabon's return after a year long hiatus durig 2019 which marked the institution's tenth anniversary. Melting into one another ho hot chaud it heating dip opens on February 20 at 6:30 p.m., and is open to the public from February 21 to May 16, 2020.

In Melting into one another ho hot chaud it heating dip Kunsthalle Lissabon's underground exhibition space is completely transformed. Step by step, slithering down the stairs the space gradually fills with curtains, squid ink and tentacular elements that give life to an immersive installation at the crossroads between fiction and reality.

Digging into her surrealistic scenario, Laure Prouvost continues in the Kunsthalle Lissabon her journey, began in the Venice Biennale, into the subconscious of all of us through the folds of our ecosystem. Accompanied by the constant flow of the water and by the repetitions of tents and tentacles, step by step we metaphorically immerse ourselves in a liquid reality to investigate the origin of our planet and of ourselves. A film, projected directly on the liquid floor, is the central element around which the complex installation is structured. Like the head of the octopus the film gives life to all the tentacles spread across the space thus becoming sensory extensions of it.

Laure Prouvost's work has often focused on creating surreal environments through video, sound, installation and performance in which dreams and reality merge through natural elements and ironic tones. Miscommunication, sensations, imagination and elements from daily life are some of the ingredients the artist melts together to create her scenarios playing constantly with ancestral memories and multisensorial experience of the visitors.

Laure Prouvost was born in Lille, France (1978) and is currently based in Antwerp. She received her BFA from Central St Martins, London in 2002 and studied towards her MFA at Goldsmiths College, London. She also took part in the LUX Associate Programme. Recent solo exhibitions include: 'AM-BIG-YOU-US LEGSICON’, M HKA - Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp, Belgium (2019); Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France (2018); BASS Museum, Miami, FL, USA (2018); ‘They Are Waiting for You’, Performance for stage at the McGuire Theatre, Minneapolis, MN, USA (2018); SALT Galata, Istanbul, Turkey (2017); Kunstmuseum Luzern, Switzerland (2016); Pirelli HangarBicocca, Milan, Italy (2016); Museum Für Moderne Kunst Frankfurt Am Main, Frankfurt, Germany (2016); Red Brick Art Museum, Beijing, China (2016); Haus Der Kunst, Munich, Germany (2015); New Museum, New York, NY, USA (2014); Laboratorio Arte Alameda, Mexico City, Mexico (2014); Max Mara Art Prize for Women, Whitechapel Gallery, London, UK and Collezione Maramotti, Reggio Emilia, Italy (2013); ‘Laure Prouvost / Adam Chodzko’ as part of ‘Schwitters in Britain’, Tate Britain, London, UK (2013); The Hepworth Wakefield, Wakefield, UK (2012); and Flat Time House, London, UK. In 2011, Prouvost won the MaxMara Art Prize for Women and was the recipient of the Turner Prize in 2013. Prouvost represented France at the 58th Venice Biennial, 2019.

The Kunsthalle Lissabon is kindly supported by República Portuguesa / DGArtes, Coleção Maria e Armando Cabral.
Additional support for Melting into one another ho hot chaud it heating dip is provided by Government of Flanders.