Laure Prouvost

Laure Prouvost, born in 1978 in Lille, France, is a contemporary artist known for her immersive and multimedia works that blend video, sculpture, text, and installation to create surreal, narrative-rich environments. Her practice often challenges traditional storytelling by playing with language, miscommunication, and memory, resulting in works that are both disorienting and deeply engaging. Prouvost’s art evokes dreamlike worlds that blur the boundaries between fiction and reality, inviting viewers into her personal, yet universally relatable, narratives.Prouvost first gained international recognition for her witty and experimental videos, where she uses language and visual metaphors to explore themes of misunderstanding and cultural displacement. Her breakthrough came in 2013 when she won the prestigious Turner Prize for her installation Wantee, a fictionalized narrative involving her invented grandfather, who was portrayed as an artist closely linked to Kurt Schwitters. This work showcased Prouvost’s ability to seamlessly combine absurdity and emotional depth, offering viewers a layered experience of both humor and poignancy.Central to Prouvost's work is her interest in language—how it is understood, misunderstood, and transformed into something unexpected. She frequently plays with translation and misinterpretation, reflecting her own experiences of living between cultures, having spent significant time in both France and the UK. Her installations often involve the use of screens, sounds, and physical objects that together form an immersive environment. Through this approach, she creates narratives that question the reliability of memory, perception, and language.In 2019, Prouvost represented France at the Venice Biennale with the installation Deep See Blue Surrounding You / Vois Ce Bleu Profond Te Fondre, where she further explored the fluidity of identity, memory, and communication. The installation was a multisensory journey through a poetic, underwater-themed space that merged sculpture, film, and found objects. This ambitious work reflected her ongoing exploration of the tension between personal histories and collective experiences, positioning her as one of the leading voices in contemporary art.Laure Prouvost’s work has been exhibited at major international institutions, including the Tate Britain, Palais de Tokyo, and MoMA. Her ability to combine narrative, language, and physical space in unexpected and evocative ways has garnered her widespread acclaim. Prouvost continues to captivate audiences with her whimsical yet deeply thoughtful approach to art, making her a significant figure in contemporary art discourse.