Laurent Konqui

Born in 1967 in Neuilly Sur Seine, Laurent Konqui has devoted more than 14 years to Plastic Art after a career of more than 10 years in Finance (Bac C at Lycée Henri IV; Expert-Comptable). It was by starting with collages from magazines or posters found in the streets of Tel Aviv and tubes of paint that he learned about Art between two consulting missions. 

The click was made after seeing a film, by chance, in 2006 (by and with as actor Ed Harris (1950-)) retracing the life of Jackson Pollock (1912 - 1956) and in particular the scenes reconstituting the projections of flat painting ("Action Painting"). This technique, in which the brush does not touch the canvas, released his creativity in the absence of artistic training.

He initially found his inspiration in Pop Art with in particular Andy Warhol (1928-1987) then in the works of the New Realists with Arman (1928-2005), Villeglé (1926-) and César (1921-1998), then in talking and traveling with his wife and two daughters. He expresses his vision of the world and his dreams by pasting iconic photographs, by freezing objects of the consumer society and musical instruments.

Collages on wooden surfboards are, today, at the heart of his “Pop Art" work and thus symbolize the freedom (of movement with the wave) that America brought to Europe with the end of the Second World War. .

In practice, the technique of working on surfboards consists in the selection and composition of landscape photos of his travels (Italy, Tel Aviv ...) as well as of characters (Hemingway, Steeve Mc Queen ...), actresses ( Marilyn, Liz Taylor, Ava Gardner…) or famous works of Pop Art such as Andy Warhol's Banana or Robert Indiana's Love. 

The compositions are embellished with web emoticons (such as those symbolizing Facebook or Instagram…) or images representing the conquest of space. The flags are also very present (American, Italian, Israeli) with in particular that of Keith Haring (1958 - 1990).

In detail, these are “skim" surf boards (or foam surf) which allow surfing on the beach where the waves come to die on the sand leaving a thin film of water ensuring the glide. and lift with speed. The more initiated can also surf, further out at sea, with these “skim" surf boards which are smaller than traditional surfboards.

Each surfboard is varnished, dated and signed on the back. "