Laure Tixier

Questions of habitat, architecture and city planning run through the works of Laure Tixier (b. 1972, Chamalières, France). The artist displays her particular interest in the utopias that have accompanied the development of human societies by humorously revisiting them and playing with countless references taken from the history of art, architecture or human sciences. Tracing through the territories of childhood – a recurring theme in her work – enables different levels of interpretation to emerge, oscillating between wonder, irony and a critical take on the world. The structures that make up the series Plaid Houses are based on a series of drawings conceived by the artist as a range of habitats originating from different cultural, geographical and historical contexts. Inspired by the ‘first architectural fictions’ assembled by children using blankets, Laure Tixier has created nine structures out of different-coloured felts. The animation film Toontown Année Zéro, a work that belongs to the Mudam Collection, picks up the opening and closing shots of Roberto Rossellini’s renowned film Germany, Year Zero. The town around which the animation film character wanders evokes a Disney kingdom in ruins.