23 3/8 x 33 1/8 in
As the first signs of isolation and depression begin to reveal themselves to Alban Laurent, he picks up a pen and sheet of paper and begins to doodle.
The Old Bank Vault is proud to present Alban Laurent's debut art exhibition 'Psychomachia'.
On March 22nd 2020 everything shuts down for what we think will be a few weeks of clearing the air of a deadly disease. The novelty of furlough and the early onset of summer however quickly wears off as we all feel trapped, prisoners in our own homes with only one daily walk permitted, we fester in our own thoughts, as an even bigger, deadlier disease creeps in for many isolated at home alone.
As the first signs of isolation and depression begin to reveal themselves to Alban Laurent, he picks up a pen and sheet of paper and begins to doodle. The days roll into weeks and as quickly into months, Laurent finds himself drowning in empty bottles of Chinese ink and off cuts of paper. A body of work quickly becoming exhibition worthy with the working title 'The 7 Deadly Sins' emerges.
The energy that comes out of these works is hypnotic. With Pride completed first in what would become the Psychomachia series, each sin then rapidly hit Laurent vying to be the next subject. Like a spiritual awakening Laurent took on each sin in his own time allowing him to explore issues that everyone experiences through life's complexities, giving him the opportunity to question his own failures and successes.
'Psychomachia', taking its name from a fifth-century poem exploring the conflict of vices and virtues in the battle of the soul, is now (nearly 1600 years later) being visually developed by Alban through a complex study of human emotions.
