Laurence Jenkell: Candy Sculptures, Wrapping Bonbon and Biography

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Laurence Jenkell is a French artist internationally recognised for her Candy sculptures, also known as Wrapping Bonbon. A signature of her work, the Laurence Jenkell Candy sculpture is instantly recognisable by its wrapped shape and two twisted ends. Created in plexiglass, resin, bronze, aluminium, marble and glass, these sculptures come in a wide range of colours and sizes. Explore the history of this iconic contemporary sculpture and discover Laurence Jenkell sculptures for sale at Class Art Biarritz.

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Laurence Jenkell’s Early Career

Laurence Jenkell followed an unconventional path into art. A self-taught artist with no formal art school training, she gradually developed her artistic language through years of independent research. In the mid-1990s, she began experimenting with different materials and moulding techniques to understand their possibilities.

Her early experiments took place using simple, hands-on methods. Working with an ordinary domestic oven, she explored temperature, inclusions, deformation, flowing effects and moulding. After years of trial and experimentation, she gradually mastered plexiglass, a material that would become central to her artistic practice.

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The Origins of Wrapping Bonbon

These experiments led to the technique that would become Laurence Jenkell’s signature: Wrapping. The process involves twisting the material to evoke the two twisted ends of a sweet wrapper.

This twisting movement soon became much more than a technical process. It developed into a distinctive artistic language and gave rise to Laurence Jenkell’s most recognisable creation: the Wrapping Bonbon sculpture.

Since then, the artist has explored this form in numerous materials and sizes, including plexiglass, mirror-polished aluminium, bronze, polyester, resin, marble, stainless steel and Murano glass. Whether transparent, colourful, chrome-finished or monumental, each Candy sculpture offers a different interpretation of her signature form. Discover Laurence Jenkell Wrapping Bonbon sculptures currently available for sale at Class Art Biarritz.

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The Candy Sculpture: Laurence Jenkell’s Signature Work

The candy occupies a central place in Laurence Jenkell’s art. Behind its playful, colourful appearance lies a more personal dimension. Associated with childhood, desire, pleasure and frustration, this everyday object becomes a universally recognisable contemporary sculpture in the artist’s hands.

The twisted wrapper also carries symbolic meaning. It evokes tension, difficulty and the ability to transform adversity. Laurence Jenkell connects the apparent lightness of the candy with deeper themes of memory, identity, transformation and resilience.

This combination of an immediately accessible form and a sustained exploration of materials helps explain the appeal of Wrapping Bonbon sculptures to collectors. To learn more about their origins and symbolism, read our article on Laurence Jenkell’s Wrapping Bonbon sculptures.

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Laurence Jenkell: Between Pop Art and Contemporary Sculpture

Laurence Jenkell’s work brings together Pop Art and contemporary sculpture. Like the Pop artists who transformed consumer goods into artistic subjects, Jenkell takes a familiar everyday object and gives it a new dimension.

Her approach is distinguished by the importance of material and gesture. Transparent plexiglass, mirror-polished aluminium, bronze, resin and glass each produce different effects of light, depth and colour. The twisting movement remains the connecting thread that makes a Laurence Jenkell sculpture immediately recognisable.

Over the years, the artist has extended this vocabulary to other symbols, including flags, currencies, numbers, letters and abstract forms. Wrapping has therefore evolved beyond the Candy sculpture to become an artistic language in its own right.

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Laurence Jenkell’s Best-Known Sculptures and Series

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Wrapping Bonbon

Wrapping Bonbon is Laurence Jenkell’s signature sculpture. Its shape resembles a wrapped sweet with twisted ends. Produced in different materials, colours and sizes, it is the work most closely associated with the artist and a central focus for collectors interested in her sculpture. Class Art Biarritz regularly offers a selection of Laurence Jenkell Candy sculptures for sale.

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Candy Nations

Created for the 2011 G20 summit in Cannes, the Candy Nations series combines the Wrapping Bonbon form with the flags of different countries. The candy becomes a symbol of dialogue, identity and cultural diversity. This monumental series played an important role in establishing Laurence Jenkell’s international visibility.

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DNA

In the DNA series, Laurence Jenkell develops her twisting technique through forms that evoke the DNA double helix. The artist explores identity, inheritance and memory while retaining the characteristic movement of her work.

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Wrapping Twist

The Wrapping Twist series takes her exploration of twisting and movement further. The direct reference to a wrapped sweet gives way to more abstract forms, in which curves, materials and reflections become the sculpture’s defining features.

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Laurence Jenkell Sculpture Prices and Market Value

Laurence Jenkell’s art market developed during the 2010s alongside the international recognition of her Wrapping Bonbon sculptures. On the secondary market, the value of an individual sculpture can vary considerably according to its date, dimensions, material, rarity, provenance and condition.

Large sculptures and certain works in sought-after materials can command substantially higher prices than smaller editions. Each work should therefore be assessed individually, rather than assigning a single market value to Laurence Jenkell’s entire output.

When buying a Laurence Jenkell sculpture, provenance, authenticity and the precise specifications of the work are also important considerations. Explore the Laurence Jenkell sculptures currently available at Class Art Biarritz to view individual works and their prices.

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Laurence Jenkell’s International Recognition

Laurence Jenkell’s sculptures have been exhibited in many countries, in galleries, at contemporary art fairs and through monumental outdoor installations. The Candy Nations series, created in connection with the G20 summit in Cannes, helped introduce her work to an international audience.

Her monumental sculptures have subsequently travelled to cities and international events across the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Public settings are particularly suited to her artistic language: a simple, universal form that viewers from different cultural backgrounds can immediately recognise. Her Candy sculptures have also been exhibited in the Middle East, a subject explored in our article on Laurence Jenkell’s Candy sculptures in Saudi Arabia.

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Buy a Laurence Jenkell Sculpture at Class Art Biarritz

Class Art Biarritz regularly offers Laurence Jenkell sculptures for sale, including her celebrated Wrapping Bonbon. Depending on availability, collectors can discover works in different sizes, colours and materials.

For collectors looking to buy a Laurence Jenkell Candy sculpture, dimensions, material, colour, date, rarity and provenance are important factors to consider. Explore all Laurence Jenkell sculptures currently available for sale at Class Art Biarritz.

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Further Reading on Our Blog

• Laurence Jenkell’s Candy Sculptures Exhibited in Saudi Arabia

• Laurence Jenkell’s Wrapping Bonbon Sculptures