Concrete Jungle, dans les Jungles, la Ville | Anton Laborde: Solo Exhibition
His monumental murals, exclusively dedicated to jungles, are both figurative and metaphorical. For him, the jungle contains everything: it embodies humanity, its tensions and its harmony." Nathalie Viot, Art historian.
Galerie REVEL is pleased to present the first solo exhibition by French visual artist Anton Laborde. From 11 April to 30 May 2025, 'Concrete Jungle, In the Jungles, the City' - Concrete Jungle, dans les Jungles, la Ville - can be viewed at Maxwell Baynes | Christie's International Real Estate, located at 28 Cours du Chapeau-Rouge in Bordeaux.
"Anton Laborde’s work, visual artist born in 1999 in Fontainebleau, France, is remarkable for his mastery of a particular marquetry technique and his artistic vision. Trained in cabinetmaking from the age of fifteen with the Compagnons du Tour de France, he developed a rigor that structures his work. Inspired by Dominique Ciamarone, the art marquetry specialist and Meilleur Ouvrier de France (Best Craftsman of France), he adapts marquetry “au bistouri” (with the precision of a scalpel), an ancient technique which he revisits through an innovative process.
His approach is based on a meticulous working of the wood: he draws his motifs on large sheets of paper, cuts each piece of sycamore or maple veneer, then dyes the wood over several months in basins, so that the colour permeates it deeply.
The use of certain dyes in no way diminishes the natural richness of the shades he manages to reveal, thanks to the use of yellow derived from Ceylon lemontree, the pink of European pear trees, the mauve of amaranth, as well as browns extracted from Virginian tulip trees. An entire range of nuances enriches his works. His practice is intended to be sustainable, minimising waste and using even the smallest pieces. He is committed to exploring every possibility that wood offers, revealing its textures and deep hues through a process that mixes artisanal precision with creative freedom.
His monumental murals, exclusively dedicated to jungles, are both figurative and metaphorical. For him, the jungle contains everything: it embodies humanity, its tensions and its harmony. The figures he inserts—often with closed eyes, immersed in introspection—emerge from a vegetal tangle, creating a sensation of weightlessness akin to an aquatic environment. There is no frame; the jungle spills over into an infinite universe, a cosmic turbulence.
Incongruous elements – refrigerators, petrol pumps, winged wheelbarrows – emerge within this ecosystem, blurring the boundary between the real and the imaginary. These objects question our relationship to nature and ecology, reminding us that our environment is in perpetual transformation under human influence. Through these objects—mobile phones, cameras, etc.—he challenges our own rapport with their use and our dependence on technology, social networks and “modern connectivity”, and what it changes in us, a form of slavery, a hold on our lives.
By playing with these contrasts, Anton Laborde establishes a dialogue between man and his habitat, evoking a future where nature and technology coexist in tension.
Although his work seems imbued with Orientalism and reminiscent of the universe of Douanier Rousseau, the artist questions these influences and strives to capture a specific biotope, forged by his childhood in Auroville (India), a utopian city founded in 1968 on a desiccated land. This context shaped his relationship with nature, even though he refuses to make it a central subject. His practice marries observation and memory, constructing a mental landscape where memories and futuristic visions overlap.
His commitment also manifests in the depiction of human figures, such as that Indian Venus in the jungle, a metaphor for misogynistic gazes and the condition of women around the world. For him, love is a political value, a prism through which he approaches human complexity. This humanistic outlook, at the crossroads of the sensitive and the political, grants his works a universal significance.
Settled in Dordogne, France, in an old sawmill—the very first place where the tree is transformed, and where veneer was once produced—Anton Laborde continues his exploration of marquetry with a singular vision, where jungles become the mirror of our saturated societies, oscillating between chaos and harmony, dream and reality. His work, merging artisanal know-how with contemporary reflection, restores marquetry to its place within the artistic field, affirming its narrative and symbolic potential. Each piece is an invitation to plunge into a world where nature and man continually redefine themselves."
Text by Nathalie Viot. Art Historian.
February 2025
