Laurent Craste
Laurent Craste
Laurent Craste, La chute III (The Fall III) 2017, Porcelain, stoneware, glazes, burnished mat gold, decals.
Laurent Craste, Révolution IV 2019, Porcelain, glaze, bright gold, 27” x 13.75” x 13”
Laurent Craste, Carcasse VII 2021, Porcelain, glaze, bright gold, butcher hook, chain., 27.5” x 12.5” x 11”
Laurent Craste, Adof Loos’ wet dream IV 2013, Porcelain, glaze, poker, 11.5” x 16.5” x 22”
Statement
Laurent Craste's research centers on the conceptual exploration of the multiple layers of meaning of decorative objects, in their sociological and historical dimensions, but also ideological and aesthetic. This approach is embodied in a reappropriation of the historical archetypes of ceramics which he uses as a material to question the status of the collector's object, considered as a social revealer, a "bearer of signs".
Drawing on the repertoire of models from the great European porcelain factories of the 18th and 19th centuries, Craste subjects these objects to a practice of deconstruction and violent alteration of their formal structures through acts of vandalism or proceeds to a subversive diversion of the traditional decorative patterns. It is therefore to the status of the art object considered as a luxury object as well as to the position of the decorative arts as class art that the works of Laurent Craste refer. Questioning the historical, social, political, and aesthetic values of the decorative object, his work also reveals a personal relationship to the object that is as intense as it is ambiguous.
Bio
Of French origin, Laurent Craste has been living and working in Montreal for 30 years. A ceramist by training, he holds a master's degree in visual and media arts from the University of Quebec in Montreal. He has participated in more than 60 group exhibitions in Canada, the United States, Europe and Asia and has also presented a dozen personal exhibitions, notably at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, at the Tom Thomson Art Gallery (Ontario), the Museum of Moving Image (New-York, United States) as well as the Cité de la Mode et du Design (Paris, France). During his more than 20-year career, he has received numerous awards and distinctions including the Jean-Marie Gauvreau Prize (2016) and the Winifred Shantz Award (2002).
CV
Education
- 2005-2007 - Master in Fine Arts from the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) with first class honours
- 1996-1997 - Professional degree in ceramics. Centre de Céramique Bonsecours - Montreal, Quebec
- 1991-1993 - Master in Physiology and Anatomy, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec
- 1987-1991 - Degree in Veterinary Medicine. École Nationale Vétérinaire de Maisons-Alfort - France
Teaching and professional involvement
- 1997-2021 - Teacher at the Centre de Céramique Bonsecours - Cegep du Vieux-Montréal (College level). Professional classes in hand-building techniques, sculpture, throwing, conceptual development of ceramic objects.
- Since 2008 - Member of various expert committees and juries of the Conseil des Métiers d’Art du Québec.
- 2013-2016 - External membre of the commission des arts visuels, des métiers d’art, de la recherche architecturale, des arts numériques, du cinéma et de la vidéo at the Conseil des arts et lettres du Québec.
- 2007-2011 - Member of the board of directors of the Musée des Maîtres et Artisans du Québec and member of the acquisition committee.
- 2000-2008 - Member of the board of directors of the Conseil des Métiers d’Art du Québec and various committees (heritage, Web site, CRÉA gallery).
- 2006 - Junior lecturer and sculpture classes in the Visual Arts Department of the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM).
- 2001 - Consultant in ceramic techniques for the ‘’Biosphère’’ and René Derouin’s exhibition ‘’La ligne dormante’’.
- 2000 - Ceramics Consultant for CNI. International development to the Philippines, supervision of local studios, conception of products for exportation.
- 1998 - Conception and presentation of “Art-Terre,” a television program offering ceramics classes on the Videotron channel (12 episodes recorded and broadcasted).
GRANTS AND DISTINCTIONS
- 2021 - Guest lecturer by The Guild for Les Journées de la Culture. ‘’Laurent Craste : A sculptural practice marked by History’’.
- 2020 - Guest lecturer by the Association des amis du Musée National Adrien Dubouché, Limoges, France.
- 2018 - Member of the jury for the Jean-Marie Gauvreau Award
- Guest panelist at the Festival International des Films sur les Métiers d’Art (FIFMA - International Film Festival on Crafts), Quebec City.
- 2016 - Recipient of the Jean-Marie Gauvreau Award
- Member of the jury at the Canada Council for the Arts
- 2015 - Member of the jury for the prix Paul-Émile-Borduas awarded by the Government of Quebec
- Guest lecturer, «The New Storytellers» symposium at the Phi Center, Montreal
- Guest lecturer at the Art History Department of the Université de Montréal («Histoire d’un médium», Marie-Ève Marchand professor)
- Guest lecturer at the Visual Art Department of the UQAM («Formes et structures temporelles», Nadia Seboussi professor)
- Grant (Section – research and creation) received from the Conseil des Arts et Lettres du Québec
- 2014 - Grant to artists, Canada Council for the Arts
- 2012 - Guest lecturer, «Ma création, ma carrière» symposium, CMAQ, Grande Bibliothèque du Québec
Solo exhibitions
- 2019 - « Laurent Craste: 20 years of career - Variations and Digressions», Musée des maîtres et artisans du Québec, Montreal.
- « Laurent Craste », solo exhibition at the YLS gallery, Saint-Gabriel-de-Brandon, Quebec
- « Châtiment », Galerie 3, Quebec City.
- 2018 - « The Fall », La Guilde, Montréal
- 2017 - " Iconoclast", Hohmann Fine Arts, Palm Desert, California, USA
- “Revolution’s small collateral damage”, Back Gallery Project, Vancouver, Canada
- 2016 - «Épuration», Art Gallery of Burlington, Burlington, Ontario
- «Jeux de massacre», Ubisoft head office, Montreal
- 2015 - «Shards of Vanity», Tom Thomson Art Gallery, Owen Sound, Ontario
- 2013 - «Trans/pose/forme/figure», Montreal Museum of Fine Arts – Lab Design
- «Laurent Craste», Division Gallery, Montreal
- 2012 - «Iconocraste», Cirque du Soleil head office, Montreal
Group exhibitions
- 2022 - ‘’ Novalis Terra’’, Musée de la Piscine, Roubaix, France. Trio exhibition with Amélie Proulx et Pascale Girardin. Curator: Marie-France Bégis.
- ‘’Confined’’, Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery, Waterloo, Ontario. Curator: Denis Longchamps.
- 2021 - ‘’La Céramique en plein essor’’, La Guilde, Montréal. Curator: Laetitia Dandavino-Tardif.
- The Ceramic Congress - Canadian exhibition. Virtual exhibition. Curator: Carole Epp
- 2020 - « Sculptures contemporaines», Maison de la culture Claude-Léveillée, Montreal. Trio exhibition with Amélie Proulx and Violette Dionne. Curator: Bernard Lévy.
- « Alice – le jeu des curiosités», Maison Hamel-Bruneau, Quebec. Curator: Anne-Sophie Blanchet
- « Volonté de fer », Vieux Presbytère de Deschambault, Deschambault-Grondines, Quebec.
- Curator: Carole Baillargeon.
- « FEU», Maison de la culture Marie-Uguay. Curator: André-Louis Paré
- « Indéfinissablement bleu», galerie YLS, Saint-Gabriel-de-Brandon, Québec.
- 2019 - « La genèse d’une œuvre», Centre de céramique Bonsecours, Montreal
- « Les mémoires vagabondes », Galerie d’art Desjardins, Drummondville Art Toronto, with Galerie 3.
- 2018 - « Here be Dragons», Carleton University Art Gallery, Ottawa, Canada
- “Feu”, Maison de la culture Frontenac, Montreal. Curator: André-Louis Paré
- « Vasa Vasorum”, Peter’s Project, Santa-Fe, USA
Articles in journals and periodicals
- '' Laurent Craste: Re-viewing History: Subversion and Abuse'', article by D Wood, Ceramics Monthly, April 2021, p.36-39
- - "Art céramique et contemporanéité", article by Jean De Julio-Paquin, Vie des arts, February 2020
- - « War and Peace - The contradictory universe of ceramist Laurent Craste», Marie-France Bégis, Magazin’Art, fall 2019.
- - « La céramique dans l’art contemporain », article by Maryse Boyce, Voir, December 2018, p.54-56.
- - « Destructive tendencies», article by Pascale Beaudet, Drift #6 September 2018, http://pascalegirardin.com/fr/drift/6/#destructive
- - « Tout feu tout flamme », article by Claire Caland, Vie des arts n.251, Summer 2018, p.44-47.
- - « Suppliciés », article by Pascale Beaudet, Vie des arts n.250, April 2018, p.35-37.
- - "These vases hold no flowers", article by Dorota Kozinska, Vie des arts n.250, April 2018.
- - « La brutalité de Craste », article by Agnès Gaudet, Journal de Montréal, April 7 2018
- - « Laurent Craste: le franc-parler de la céramique», article by Éric Clément, La Presse, March 31 2018
- - “Laurent Craste: Disjunctions”, article de Pascale Beaudet, Ceramics Art and Perception # 106, p. 4-9, octobre 2017
- - “Contemplating Social Conflicts with Laurent Craste's Allegorical Ceramics”, article de Shaun Dacey, White Hot Magazine, août 2017.
Catalogues and publications
- - « Céramique : 90 artistes contemporains », C. Vanier et V. Pettit Laforet, Pyramid edition, Paris, 2019
- - “Épuration – Laurent Craste “, exhibition catalog published by the Art Gallery of Burlington, 2016
- - “The New Age of Ceramics”, Hannah Stouffer, Ginko Press, Berkeley, CA, 2016
- - «Sloppy Craft – Postdisciplinarity and the Crafts», Elaine Cheasley Paterson and Susan Surette, Bloomsbury, 2015
- - «Art of Ceramics», Carolina Amell, MONSA editions, 2014.
- - «The celebrity art collection. 1990-2012: reflection», International Corporate Art. 2012.
- - «Unity and & Diversity». Cheongju International Craft Biennale 2009 – Guest pavilion Canada. Sang Woo Nam publisher. 2009.
- contres céramiques- Ceramics Encounters – Winnipeg-Montréal», Musée des maîtres et artisans du Québec. Denis Longchamps. Cahiers métiers d’art. 2007.
- - «Le vase soliflore» - Concours International de Céramique de la Ville de Carouge 2005.
- - 12ème Biennale de Céramique Contemporaine de Châteauroux - France. 2003.
- 10ème Biennale Nationale de Céramique du Canada: Autoportrait. Éditions d’art Le Sabord. 2002.
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