Denis Latour
Among the great innovations brought to contemporary sculpture, the use of new materials is one of the most significant. Artist Denis Latour from Caen, Normandy, is a living example of this novel research.He works driftwood that has come from ship builds, breakwaters or mussel farms and which has been shaped by saltwater over many years. As a resut of his artwork’s success, Denis Latour has had many exhibitions over the past few years both in Normandy and in Parisian galleries.
Relatively new to the gouge, the sculptor feels irresistibly drawn to the method of direct carving into the “original forms”. In oak, horse chestnut or tropical timber, their bright and ruddy hues fascinate him. Their eroded, mineralised and oxidised appearance elicits a “reading” from him and allows him to reveal, under the rotting, rough and greying exterior, smooth, polished and luminescent surfaces and contrasts of astonishing beauty.Denis Latour explains how from these objects, “which are visible through the physical receptivity that they have the power to awaken”, he is able to bring about the most beautiful transformations, producing surprisingly gentle, flowing figures in ever willowy and sensual forms. Whether carving slender-bodied women or surprising abstractions, what appeals beyond the absolute originality of the artwork is the purity of the lines, the harmonious proportions, and the simplicity and nobility of the picturesque shapes. Imbued with a soul of their own, these communicate sincerity, authenticity and poetry.
In unprecedented, unique and bold artwork, Denis Latour presents a new, exalted world vision that is directly inspired by nature. His creations are at once moving, imaginative and fertile.
Relatively new to the gouge, the sculptor feels irresistibly drawn to the method of direct carving into the “original forms”. In oak, horse chestnut or tropical timber, their bright and ruddy hues fascinate him. Their eroded, mineralised and oxidised appearance elicits a “reading” from him and allows him to reveal, under the rotting, rough and greying exterior, smooth, polished and luminescent surfaces and contrasts of astonishing beauty.Denis Latour explains how from these objects, “which are visible through the physical receptivity that they have the power to awaken”, he is able to bring about the most beautiful transformations, producing surprisingly gentle, flowing figures in ever willowy and sensual forms. Whether carving slender-bodied women or surprising abstractions, what appeals beyond the absolute originality of the artwork is the purity of the lines, the harmonious proportions, and the simplicity and nobility of the picturesque shapes. Imbued with a soul of their own, these communicate sincerity, authenticity and poetry.
In unprecedented, unique and bold artwork, Denis Latour presents a new, exalted world vision that is directly inspired by nature. His creations are at once moving, imaginative and fertile.
Francine BUNEL-MALRAS, Art historian
