IN-DEPENDANCE by IBASHO presents Le Rêve Circulaire, a solo exhibition by the French photographer and visual artist Laurent Millet.
Laurent Millet (1968, Roanne, France) blends photography with sculpture, drawing and installation. Rather than documenting the world directly, he constructs objects, architectural forms and poetic ‘machines’, which he later photographs in his studio or in natural environments. Millet’s work explores the boundary between reality and representation, as well as the interplay between volume, space and surface.
The artist often uses historical or handcrafted photographic processes, such as ambrotype, cyanotype, salted paper prints and gelatin silver prints, giving his images a timeless, tactile quality. In Le Réve Circulaire, Millet brings together the works of his two series: Somnium and L’Astrophile.
Somnium, a meditation on the cosmos
Named after the book of the same title by the German astronomer Johannes Kepler, first published in 1634, the series draws conceptual inspiration from one of the earliest works of proto-science fiction. Kepler’s text imagines a voyage to the moon as a way of rethinking humanity’s position in the cosmos. Millet does not illustrate the book directly. Instead, he reactivates its spirit of inquiry and speculation.
The series consists of carefully staged constructions: fragile architectural models, measuring devices, suspended geometric forms and sculptural assemblages that resemble scientific experiments. Photographed in controlled settings, these objects appear both empirical and imaginary. Shadows, threads and delicate supports are often visible, emphasising the artificiality of the scene and the human effort behind knowledge-making.
Somnium becomes a meditation on observation. Rather than presenting the cosmos itself, Millet shows the tools and mental frameworks through which we attempt to grasp it. The photographs hover between laboratory and dream, suggesting that science and imagination are not opposites but intertwined modes of exploration.
L’Astrophile, a reflection on human curiosity
With L’Astrophile, which literally translates to ‘lover of stars’, Millet deepens his reflection on humanity’s fascination with the sky. Telescopic forms, optical devices, mirrors, and cosmic diagrams appear within the images, staged like relics of an observatory or fragments of forgotten experiments. The works suggest both precision and vulnerability. Instruments designed to measure vast distances seem delicate, almost provisional. By foregrounding these devices, Millet shifts attention away from spectacular astronomical imagery and toward the intimate, human scale of curiosity. The universe is not shown directly – it is implied through traces, alignments, and symbolic constellations.
Across both series, Millet’s practice can be understood as a poetic archaeology of science. He reconstructs the gestures, dreams, and material culture of astronomical inquiry, revealing how our understanding of the cosmos is shaped by fragile objects, careful staging, and acts of faith in what cannot be fully seen.
Laurent Millet received several major distinctions, including the Nadar Prize (2014) and the Niépce Prize (2015). He has exhibited work at numerous prestigious institutions, such as Les Rencontres de la Photographie d’Arles. His work is also held in major public and private collections such as the Art Institute of Chicago, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, the Fonds National d’Art Contemporain, Photo Elysée, the Maison Européenne de la Photographie and the Bibliothèque nationale de France. Millet lives and works in La Rochelle and teaches at the École supérieure des beaux-arts d’Angers. In the year that marks the 200th anniversary of photography in France, he is among a group of photographers contributing to a special project by the Centre national des arts plastiques (Cnap).
The exhibition Le Rêve Circulaire will be on view from 21 March to 3 May 2026 at IN-DEPENDANCE by IBASHO in Antwerp. The vernissage will take place on Saturday 21 March from 14:00 to 18:00. The artist will speak about his work at 15:00 and will be present throughout the afternoon to sign copies of his artist book L’Astrophile ou le Rêve Circulaire (a co-production between IBASHO and the(M) éditions).
Laurent Millet – Le Rêve Circulaire
21 March – 3 May 2026
IN-DEPENDANCE by IBASHO
Waalsekaai 59
2000 Antwerpen, Belgium
https://in-dependancegallery.com/
