Alban Lanore

French artist Alban Lanore’s abstract charred wood sculptures explore the relationships between material, construction, and space in a constant quest for balance.

Exploring shapes, volumes, and balance

Through his instantly recognizable sculptural style, Alban Lanore creates minimalist works in which geometric precision interacts with the grain and natural irregularities of the wood. Driven by a desire for simplicity, he seeks out lines, shapes, and volumes that focus on the essential, in order to create spatial tension or the appearance of movement.

Balance is the central and constant focus of his work; it is built upon a subtle interplay between stability and tension, between solid and void. While architecture serves as an important point of reference, it is never a matter of imitation: above all, it sustains a reflection on structural and spatial principles. For Alban Lanore, a work of art never provides a definitive answer. Instead, it raises new questions that will inform his creation of the next one.

Alban Lanore: from botanical design to abstract sculpture

Born in Paris in 1966, Alban Lanore now lives and works in the Touraine region, in western France. A self-taught artist, his artistic journey began outside the traditional art-school system, and developed through experience, travel, and formative encounters. Before devoting himself fully to sculpture, he worked in plant design and, in the early 1990s, founded a company specialising in this field.

His profession took him through the vast equatorial forests of Africa and South America. As he discovered the expressive power of trees, roots, and trunks shaped by time, he developed a deep sensitivity to living matter and began to wonder how he could tell its story elsewhere. He brings wood, vines, and stumps back to Paris, always giving preference to wood sourced from scrap or recycling programmes.

This love of wood remains an essential part of Alban Lanore’s work today, even though his artistic vocabulary has moved away from nature’s organic forms toward a much more structured and architectural style. His move from Paris to Touraine marked this shift: he then decided to devote himself to finding his own artistic voice in the field of abstract sculpture.

Inspiring figures in the arts

Two figures have had a profound influence on Alban Lanore’s career. The first is the Brazilian artist Frans Krajcberg, a committed advocate for forests and for art that exists in harmony with nature. Discovering his work, and then meeting him, reinforced Lanore’s decision to adopt wood as his material of choice. The sculptor particularly appreciates the sensual qualities of this material: its scent, its grain, its textures, and its imperfections.

Later, his encounter with the sculptor Vincent Batbedat opened up a new avenue of thought. Through their exchanges, Alban Lanore discovered the principles of constructed art and developed a growing interest in geometry and structure. This influence gradually steered his work toward a more minimalist style and abstract sculpture.

Finally, the artist draws inspiration from the sculptures of Eduardo Chillida, for the interplay between material, space, and form, as well as from the paintings of Pierre Soulages, whose exploration of black and light echoes his sculptures in charred wood.

Woodworking, from the log to the finished charred wood piece

Alban Lanore most often works from a single beam or log, avoiding the joining of multiple pieces in order to preserve the natural continuity of the grain. Some sculptures take shape directly within the beam, based on a few chalk marks made before carving begins. Others are the subject of preparatory sketches that allow for an examination of the four sides of the future form.

Once the project has been defined, the contemporary sculptor prefers to work primarily by hand, using traditional tools such as wood chisels. This patient work gradually reveals sharp edges, hollows, planes, and breaks that give the composition its structure. The sculpture is then charred with a blowtorch – which Alban Lanore uses like a paintbrush – until it takes on a deep black that absorbs light, intensifies contrasts, and further highlights the lines and forms.

The finish is the final step: protective oils for outdoor pieces and waxes for indoor pieces. This ensures that the material is preserved while maintaining its tactile qualities. The use of fire is therefore more than a mere aesthetic effect: it is integral to how the work is perceived, heightening its presence.

“People often ask me: “Why are you burning your works?” Sometimes I choose to leave them in their natural wood finish. But I’ve noticed that they become stronger once they’ve been burned.” Alban Lanore

Exhibitions in galleries and contemporary art fairs

For the past fifteen years or so, Alban Lanore has regularly exhibited his work in galleries, art shows, and contemporary art fairs, primarily in France. His sculptures have been exhibited at venues such as the PAD Paris, the Modern Art Fair, and the Salon Réalités Nouvelles, where he won the Taylor Foundation Sculpture Prize in 2018. His sculptures have also found their way into numerous private collections in France and abroad, reflecting the interest his unique approach to material and form has generated among collectors.