Temple of Nature

Built by the hand of a single man, this monument measuring 23 metres by 12 metres, which required 600 cubic metres of stone and 20 years of work, is, according to André Malraux, the "only example in architecture of naive art". Described by his author, Ferdinand Cheval, of “Temple of Nature”, then of “Ideal Palace”, This real curiosity, located in Hauterives in the Drôme, fascinated them time, the Surrealists. André Breton, Max Ernst and even Picasso were passionate about this place which remains today an enigma, an invitation to the interpretation. A century later, the artist Aurélien Froment confronts it. He chooses to direct our gaze in order to bring out every detail of this abundant architecture. By a play of black sheets, which is not without recalling photographers of yesteryear, he isolates each sculpture and immortalizes the details, animals, flora and legendary human figures. This inventory then appears as a set of clues, a treasure hunt through which the outlines of this unique madness in the world.