Playfully mischievous and narrative in his artistic approach, Laurent Le Deunff’s work appears to have been born in a fantasized world reminiscent of some ancestral culture. And yet, his creations are firmly anchored in the reality of contemporary representation.
Humorously playing with time and space in his work, Le Deunff imagined a “totem” animal for the Porte Sauvetout relic during the 2021 edition of Le Voyage à Nantes: a beaver with a fish tail, inspired by a medieval medical book.
For the next three years, this Poisson Castor (i.e., “Beaver Fish”) will live in the archaeological vestige of Porte Saint-Pierre.
Porte Saint-Pierre has been a witness to Nantes’ history, making it one of the city’s major monuments, both for its location in the historic center and the amount of heritage and archaeological elements concentrated in and around it.
For this urban vestige, Le Deunff has written a fable. Through this anachronistic bronze figure with its silver tail – itself a fictitious representation taken from popular belief – the artist propels the animal into another time frame, an incongruous, anachronistic scenario – and us along with it!
Laurent Le Deunff was born in 1977. He lives and works in Bordeaux, and is represented by Galerie Sémiose, Paris.
Porte Saint-Pierre 44000 Nantes
How to get there?
Parking(s) nearby: Parking Cathédrale, Parking Château, Parking Decré-Bouffay, Parking Gare Château
Public transport: Foch - Cathédrale, St-Pierre, Trébuchet
Self-service bicycles: Foch (n°32), Verdun (n°48), Hôtel De Ville (n°2), Strasbourg (n°3), Duchesse Anne (n°49), Préfecture (n°1), Moulin (n°4), Château (n°50), Saint Clément (n°64), Jardin Des Plantes (n°63)
