Simon Laveuve
“Born in 1988, I'm originally from the Paris suburbs, where I still live. I grew up in a concrete tower, designed by the committed architect Renée Gailhoustet, who built all the social housing in Ivry-sur-Seine. Surrounded by dormitory towns, housing estates and the industrial zone, it was above all the town's spatial layout, created in collaboration with Jean Renaudie, that inevitably left its mark on me.
My career path, too, has had an impact on my inspirations. As an author-photographer for over 10 years, I've worked in the fashion, music, reportage and publishing worlds... Specializing in portraiture and still life, people and their environment have always been at the heart of my work.
Since 2016, I've been building my own world in miniature, combining volume and staging. Habitat and survival are two central elements of my approach. Self-taught in the world of sculpture and modeling, I use a lot of salvaged elements. I like the principle of second life and recycling through art for creation. Detail, reading and meaning are directly linked to my earlier photographic work.
What most of my pieces have in common is that they feature a shelter. A shelter for man, made by man, whose figure is not necessarily present. I like to work on height and the inaccessible. Protection and abandonment. Fallen icons and their symbolisms. Resistance and insubordination.”
CURRICULUM VITAE
Exhibitions
2024 Small is beautiful, Fabbrica del Vapore, Milano (Italy)
2023 ST-ART : Foire Européenne d’art contemporain, Galerie Decorde, Strasbourg (France)
Small is Beautiful, Grand Place, Brussels (Belgium)
Stras Galeries Tour, Galerie Decorde, Strasbourg (France)
En Construction!, Musée des Arts Buissonniers
Saint-Sever-du-Moustier (France)
GROUP SHOW, Galerie Decorde, Strasbourg (France)
FEW – Festival d’art contemporain « Tempête!», Wattwiller (France)
Small is Beautiful, Broadway, New York (USA)
2022 HIEMS, Galerie Decorde, Strasbourg (France)
ST-ART : Foire Européenne d’art contemporain, Galerie Decorde, Parc Expo, Strasbourg (France)
Construction: boîtes et assemblages rêvés, Centre d’art La Tannerie, Houdan (France)
Small is Beautiful, South Kensington, London (UK)
2021 Small is Beautiful, Galerie Joseph, Paris
Édition
2024 Small Is Beautiful, Milano, Exhibition book (it)
2023 Small Is Beautiful, Brussels, Exhibition book (en/nl)
Festival d’art contemporain "Tempête!", Exhibition book (fr)
Small Is Beautiful, New York, Exhibition book (en)
2022 Construction: boîtes et assemblages rêvés, La Tannerie, Exhibition book (fr)
Small Is Beautiful, London, Exhibition book (en)
2021 Small Is Beautiful, Paris, Exhibition book (fr)
2020 Small Scale Big World : The Culture of Mini Crafts, Beau livre by Sandu Publishing (en)
