Chef Menteur

For his first exhibition at Templon Paris Beaubourg, "Chef Menteur" (The Lying Chef), young French artist Léonard Martin presents works created during his residency in New Orleans. The exhibition features around fifteen new paintings and a sculpture, reflecting the artist's American experience. The title, borrowed from a highway near New Orleans, suggests the blurred line between appearance and reality.

Martin explores the carnival of Louisiana, a region marked by social and racial tensions, climate change, and ecological disasters. He views carnival as a paradoxical space where tragedy meets burlesque, and madness confronts a world in crisis. The artist collected ephemeral fragments from carnival floats, incorporating plastic waste into his practice as a commentary on a saturated world. His works employ cinematic montage techniques, creating fragmented compositions that resemble stills from a mental film, exploring the tension between the visible and the real.