Birds nesting inside the exhibition galleries, hybrid creatures floating between earth and sky, grotto-like tunnels leading from the dark into light. . . these surreal scenarios originate in the mind of French artist Laure Prouvost. Throughout her decades-long career, Prouvost has created multisensorial installations, combining video, sculpture, textiles, and diverse media in extravagant, mind-bending settings that create humorous, idiosyncratic experiences for the viewer.

For her first solo exhibition in Texas, Laure Prouvost transforms the Moody Center for the Arts into an immersive environment situated between reality and the imagination. Above Front Tears Nest in South invites visitors on an intriguing journey, engaging both the body and the mind. Forgoing traditional linear narratives and expected outcomes, Prouvost weaves together existing and imagined personal memories to open up a space of boundless freedom. The exhibition features several large-scale, multimedia installations, found objects, sculptures, tapestries, architectural assemblages, and videos, engaging with the architecture of the building through a disorientating, whimsical mode of display while exploring themes of eco-feminism and environmentalism.

Watch the artist speak about the artworks and see the exhibition. 

About the Artist

Laure Prouvost (b. 1978, Lille, France) received her BFA from Central Saint Martins, London in 2002 and completed studies towards her MFA at Goldsmiths College, London. Prouvost was awarded the Turner Prize in 2013, and the Max Mara Prize for Women in 2011, among various other awards. In 2016 she was distinguished as Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Mérite, and in 2019 she was made Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. In June 2019, the artist created her first public commission in the United Kingdom through Transport for London’s Art on the Underground. In 2019 she represented France at the Venice Biennale. Prouvost lives and works in Brussels, Belgium.

The exhibition Laure Prouvost: Above Front Tears Oui Nest South is curated by Frauke V. Josenhans, Curator, Moody Center for the Arts. The exhibition design is by Diogo Passarinho Studio. A selection of works and exhibition elements were originally produced for the exhibition The Fredriksen Commission: Laure Prouvost. Above Front Tears Oui Float, at the National Museum in Oslo, Norway, 2022.

The exhibition is made possible by the Moody Center for the Arts Founders Circle and the Elizabeth Lee Moody Excellence Fund for the Arts. Additional support is provided by the Texas Commission on the Arts and Étant donnés Contemporary Art, a program of Villa Albertine.