Ben Brown Fine Arts presents Les Lalanne: A Living Landscape, a major exhibition dedicated to the iconic French artist duo Claude Lalanne and François-Xavier Lalanne. Staged at the gallery’s Hong Kong space in parallel with Art Basel Hong Kong 2026, the exhibition offers an immersive journey into the poetic and imaginative universe of Les Lalanne.
Conceived as an imagined garden, A Living Landscape draws inspiration from the philosophy and spatial harmony of Japanese Zen gardens. The exhibition creates a contemplative atmosphere, encouraging visitors to slow down and engage with the artworks in a more reflective and sensory way. Rather than a conventional display, the show unfolds as a carefully composed environment where sculpture, space, and silence interact.
The concept is deeply rooted in the artists’ own way of living and working. At their home in Ury, France, Claude and François-Xavier Lalanne blurred the boundaries between daily life and artistic production. Their residence functioned as both a studio and a living ecosystem, where animals, artisans, and nature coexisted. The surrounding gardens, particularly influential in Claude’s work, were cultivated yet allowed to grow freely an approach that directly shaped her sculptural language. This balance between control and spontaneity forms the foundation of the exhibition.
Les Lalanne are widely celebrated for transforming elements of nature into imaginative, often surreal creations. Their works exist at the intersection of fine art, functional design, and decorative arts, infused with subtle humor and refined craftsmanship. While they collaborated closely throughout their careers, their artistic approaches remained distinct. Claude Lalanne’s work is organic, fluid, and inspired by botanical forms, whereas François-Xavier Lalanne’s sculptures emphasize structure, geometry, and the reinterpretation of animal figures. Together, their works create a unified yet dynamic artistic dialogue.
A central highlight of the exhibition is François-Xavier Lalanne’s renowned Mouton series, presented as a large-scale installation within the garden-like setting. These sculptural sheep, inspired by pastoral life and movement, appear as if paused mid-graze, adding a sense of quiet animation to the space. The presentation includes key works such as Bélier (1994), Brebis (1994), Agneau (1996), and Le Mouton Transhumant (1988), alongside earlier pieces from the Mouton de Pierre series. Both functional and sculptural, these works exemplify Lalanne’s concept of “domestic surrealism,” where art seamlessly integrates into everyday life.
Complementing these works are significant creations by Claude Lalanne, including her Entrelacs and Ginkgo furniture, botanical mirrors, electroplated candelabra, and the distinctive Choupatte sculptures. Her practice reflects a deep engagement with nature, combined with a poetic sensibility and subtle Surrealist influence. Through detailed craftsmanship and imaginative transformation, Claude elevates familiar plant forms into objects that are both functional and dreamlike.
The exhibition also features Singe aux Nénuphars, a rare collaborative piece that encapsulates the artistic synergy between the two. In this work, Claude’s water lily-inspired tabletop rests on François-Xavier’s sculptural monkey base, merging flora and fauna into a single harmonious form.
Like a carefully designed garden that captures the essence of nature within a defined space, A Living Landscape distills the Lalannes’ artistic vision into an immersive experience. The exhibition transforms the gallery into a serene yet imaginative environment, where sculpture, nature, and fantasy coexist. Rather than offering a fixed narrative, it invites visitors to experience the space intuitively discovering meaning through observation, movement, and atmosphere.
all images © the gallery and the artist(s)
