Laura Porter — The Future of Dry — Escougnou-Cetraro Gallery — Exhibition — Slash Paris

Past: September 3 → 29, 2016

Laura Porter’s works are composed of common, rudimentary elements in offhand iterations often building-up towards some creeping figure. Several aspects of Laura Porter’s native New Orleans culture come up in her work: Mardi Gras floats and doubloons, sorting coupons, tailgaiting, and red beans in particular appear regularly as « increments », interchangeable units. Her humourous, short-circuited style is similar to what Freud characterises as witticism : « Thought seeks a witty disguise because it recommends itself to our attention and can appear more important and valuable… above all this disguise fascinates and confuses our reason. »

Laura Porter, Insole, 2014 Dimensions variables Courtesy of the artist & Galerie Escougnou-Cetraro, Paris

The Future of Dry, Laura Porter’s first solo exhibition at the gallery Escougnou-Cetraro opens with images from a “Food Amounts Booklet,” a brochure distributed to subjects in studies and used as a standard of measurement in quantifying their fat intake. Ceramic “Mound” food standards meet with other measures — such as a coin used to assess the size of plants (Penny Perspective) or a medical table divided into chunks (Like Farming). Her works take something from camouflage — from the mimicry of industrial products to the player, the gambler. In Laura Porter’s work, the ground, a weary stack supporting people and things, is the main surface and the generator of wealth.

Laura Porter, No Spenders, 2015 Installation — Dimensions variables

Laura Porter, Heureusement les tomates, Installation, Détail, 2014 Dimensions variables Courtesy of the artist & Galerie Escougnou-Cetraro, Paris