Only a few days left to see surprising dwellings at the Montpellier Art Brut Museum

You have surely already had the experience of finding a piece of dried wood on the beach, at the edge of a river or even a park and telling yourself that by assembling it with other pieces of which you visualize roughly the form, it would result in something appreciable – at least for you. A decorative object to put for example near the 2025 Christmas tree. Sylvain Corentin, pieces of wood and other rejects, he collects in abundance on the banks of the Lez, near which he has his house and his workshop in Prades-le- Lez. You will have a glimpse of what he does with his pieces carried by the small river until the end of the week at the Art Brut Museum. These are sculptures, often substantial, made up of branches, bones or even shells which unfold a singular universe crossed by architecture. An exhibition not to be missed.

In the footsteps of the Horse Postman

Very surprisingly, this is the first time that the artist, native of Montpellier, has been exhibited in the art brut museum. But there are already two of his works in the permanent collection. Sylvain Corentin had already caught the eye of Patrick Michel, the owner of the artistic venue. “We must follow what nature gives us” confides the artist who does not deny “a very strong bond” with the Horse Postman. But how did he end up creating very slender works that resemble improbable houses, a sort of suspended, organic cabin that can appear fragile or a little unbalanced? “I wanted something quick and fun. A fun construction. I worked for a long time with a chainsaw, pruning, etc. Here, with hot glue, you stick right away” specifies Sylvain Corentin.

Dreamlike and plastic dimension

In addition to this concern for maintaining a link with nature, Sylvain Corentin adds a dreamlike and plastic dimension to the architecture. He gives us some tips. “I create a skeleton, and then, inside, I build little niches, little dwellings, refuges” indicates the artist. It is from there that we can feed our imagination. By conjecturing who could possibly live in such dwellings. Do they belong to the present or are they reappearances of dwellings taken from ancient times? Most of the time these sculptures are on stilts and white. A few rare examples reveal color and strange inhabitants. But for almost all of the works, the plastic gesture is accompanied by pencil strokes. Because before being a visual artist, Sylvain Corentin draws. However, he never draws up sketches of his sculptures. The two creative universes are separate. “It’s like schizophrenia” confides the artist. There is no point in treating himself.