Mobilist and sculptural artist
Laurent Davidson was born in New York City and at the age of four moved with his family to the Loire Valley in France. Sculpture and the arts are in his blood. He is the grandson of internationally distinguished portrait sculptor Jo Davidson , the great grandson of 19th-century French sculptor and medalist Francis de Saint-Vidal and the great grandson of French art historian and curator of the Musée du Luxembourg in Paris, Léonce Bénédite.
Laurent attended the Beaux Arts school in Tours, France. Before formally studying art, he first experimented with “Mobiles” at the age of thirteen when living in Saché, France. He was inspired by his family friend and neighbor Alexander Calder, the world-renowned artist who developed and popularized the unique art of Mobile making. Alexander Calder’s daughter Sandra married Laurent’s Uncle, Jean Davidson. Laurent’s family, the Calders, and his uncle’s family all lived close to each other in the same village of Saché.
We notice the movement of automobiles and beings in the street, but we do not notice that the earth turns… It is a matter of harmonizing these movements, thus arriving at a new possibility of beauty. – Alexander Calder
It was the study of music and chromatic harmony in 1992 that spurred a renewed interest in Laurent’s Mobile-making. He felt that Mobiles floating in space and time can be interpreted as “harmonic progressions” and their movement as “variations.” Mobiles are made of elemental shapes composed in rhythms and colors, set on a point or suspended in the air. Exploring their similarity to musical scales or phrases, Laurent aspires to convey the relationship between the visual arts and music.
Working with aluminum and steel, Laurent creates one-of-a-kind Mobiles and StabiloMobiles (a term he coined to describe his Mobile sculptures that are free-standing with a Mobile balanced on a point) for interiors and Stabiles for both interiors and outdoors. Each sculpture is painted with Japan Colors, an oil base paint that dries to a flat finish so that the colors are visible from all angles. His large outdoor installations are made of heavy gauge metals and painted with durable weather-resistant paints.
Laurent has exhibited his paintings and sculptures at one man and group shows in Carmel, Monterey, Big Sur, Santa Rosa, Laguna Beach, Healdsburg, Burlingame, Scottsdale, Seattle, Santa Fe and at the International Art Fair in Paris (FIAC) as well as at his family’s gallery in Tours, France. There is a full list of gallery and museum shows here.
Laurent's Mobiles, StabiloMobiles and Stabiles are present in numerous art collections across the United States and Europe.
The artist lives with his wife Diana in Carmel, California on the beautiful Monterey Peninsula.