né au Cameroum en 1958 Vit et travaille à Genève, Suisse

Aujourd'hui encore, le bois est la base de mon travail.
J'engage un dialogue ou se mêle alternativement l'écoute et l'orientation faites au matériau. C'est mon champ d'exploration. Les directions sont partiellement données. Les développements réalisés sont distincts mais offrent une constante: ils sont en partie prédéterminés. Je me considère comme un promeneur qui déplacerait au gré du cheminement les repères d'orientation. Resituer l'angle sous lequel on regarde un objet, un environnement, c'est créer un déplacement, un décalage indispensable à la stimulation de nos conventions de lecture...

LdP

BOUGHS AND TWIGS
Laurent de Pury's sculptures have an undeniable graphic quality to the extent that his work with volume often seems to be mainly aimed at emphasizing the intrinsic line of a physical mass. The emaciated line prevails over the round and can then follow a natural movement free of any element of picturesque.
The lines wich structure his work stem from the realm of vegetation. They are openly inspired by processes of growth observed in that field. Laurent de Pury, as he works alongside nature, approaches vegetal life untainted by ideology: it would be futile to try and reed between the lines of his work a clear ecological message. As a result, the origin of the materials used in never forgotten. Moreover, it is reintegrated into the sculpture to such a degree that it becomes one of its fundamental formal components. Intertwining boughs with twigs, a rough form of woodwork with a minimalist approach to basketwork, sets the foundation for an aesthetic perception whith displays its presuppositions without ambiguity. Yet it is also concerned not to submit to these as to inviolable models.
Laurent de Pury cites nature but does not recite it. Similarly, he makes use of specialised techniques without excessive submission to any of their rules. Another characteristic feature is the ease with which his works fit into diversified exbition contexts. Several of them do not seem to have a specific destination and can be displayed just as well in the open as in an exhibition room. Might this ability to suit various spatial configurations not denote a certain modesty ? If so, we should interpret in the same way Laurent de Pury's habit of not opposing the course of nature but of diverting it just enough to rekindle our curiosity.

Hervé Laurent