Olivier Lamboray

The internationally award-winning Olivier Lamboray (1968) is a Belgian surrealist painter currently living in Germany. He has been painting since 1992 and has had many successful exhibitions in Belgium, the USA, Monaco, Australia, Italy, England, Germany, France, Thailand, the Netherlands, Indonesia and Guinea.

"Painting is my journey and it defines who I am."

Surrealism is at the heart of Belgian culture and since my childhood I have been fascinated by the magical feeling of the surreal dream.
I have been painting for 30 years and have spent many years travelling the world, living mostly in remote places, from the Himalayas to a nearly deserted island in the Andaman Sea.

"Often these were places where time seemed to stand still and where I could only turn to my inner self and connect my visions and thoughts with the vital questions."

A puzzle to be solved in order to find meaning. A path full of experiences that, little by little, shaped my goals and my vision of life, but also myself. A complicated labyrinth through the darkness of the mind... And it paved the way to illuminate the rest of my life.

Over the years I have developed a very personal style, classic but inviting and full of surprises.

"He is always positive, sometimes nostalgic, but full of love."

Stories from my heart. It shows a world where I feel really comfortable, where the sky is always blue, where I forget the reality and the harshness of this world and the gravity that pulls us down. I like to let elements float, to mix things, to make my stories romantic, to embrace love like a half-hidden, half-perceived secret. The settings are half present and half imaginary, they appear and disappear, reflecting the transience of life and the bottomless ground of reality.

Awards

• Venice Biennale of Art 2022 Exhibitor
• Interview at the Euro Space Center about my work/vision and connection to Space, presented at the Belgian Pavillon during the “Expo Dubai 2021” (Universal Exhibition). Dubai-United Arab Emirates. Watch the interview here
• “Grand Prize” at Gemlucart Exhibition, Monaco, Oct 2018
• Invited by the Diplomatic Bureau of Belgium to represent Belgian Art at King's Birthday Celebration – Conakry, Guinea (Nov-2017)
• “Focus Prize” at Gemlucart Exhibition, Monaco, Oct 2017
• 1st Prize of the Jury at the 9th RankArt Painting Exhibition – France (Feb-2017)
• “Prix du Public” Arttempo Exhibition-France (Feb-2017)
• “Galerie Thuillier” Prize received at the Arts & Lettres de France exhibition (Nov-2016)
• “Creativity Award” at the 50th Salon d'Automne de Peinture de Muret-France (Nov 2016)
• Front Cover of ArtQuench Magazine Issue Two, Los Angeles, USA, 2015
• Honnor Guest at Les 111 des Arts 2014, Toulouse, France
• Palme d'Or at Artoulouse 2014 for Figurative Painting category – Toulouse, France
• Winner of “Five Degrees” – World art competition 2014
• Winner of “New Master Artist 2013” ​​– world art competition
• Winner at “Temps et Mécanique” – Upside art – world art competition – Dijon, France
• Prix ​​Cotation Drouot – 12th International Salon of Plastic and Literary Arts (2013) – Toulouse, France
• Front Cover of American Art Book : International Contemporary Artists Vol VI (2013)
• Palme d'Or at Artoulouse (2013) for Figurative Painting category – Toulouse, France
• Honnor Guest at The 6th Contemporary Art Fair of Montauban (2012) – France
• Winner of Kunzfetti Competition (2012) – MaasRijn Kunst Society – The Netherlands
• Winner of “New Master Artist 2011” – world art competition

"Is it just a dream, a thought or a mental construction?"

By addressing different levels of perception, my style highlights the importance of the viewer and their role in understanding this world. Evaporating elements or bricks on some walls allow to see through the present and transport people to a seemingly different time in space. The evolution of the place itself, from the origin of life to the present moment. Same place, different time. Do they overlap? Would they still exist if we traveled to another dimension of time/space dynamics? What is our role in this perception? Is it just a personal construction, and can we transcend this level to another and reach deeper layers of life itself? Looking through the curtain of reality sends me to other times in space and past stories. The effects of leftover energy and self-repeating cycles. This evokes feelings we cannot always understand, those "déjà vu" feelings we feel deep inside but don't know where they come from and when. The infinity of the soul. The imprints of our actions floating in the universe.

I like walking this path, opening gigantic clocks like vortexes and traveling to other dimensions, discovering other wonders, deep within me. There is this deep feeling that it is just there, at the tip of my finger. This amazing feeling of seeing these dreamlike apparitions, creations of the mind, and being able to bring them to life through my hand. The energy of a thought turning into something real down here on Earth, in my studio, on my canvas, is incredible. Creating. From the ethereal to the real. The pure freedom of creation, its infinite vastness. To fetch secrets from somewhere far away in space and to be able to present them right before our eyes is magical. It is all there, within me, within us. We just have to delve deeper to experience the beauty of life itself, through eternity.

While love is the main driving force of my work, my research focuses on the concept of time, its transience, our place in the universe, space, its wonders and mysteries.
Every picture brings me closer to who I really am.

Whaoaaw what a trip. It's amazing!

More information on Olivier's website

Past and current exhibitions

• Venice Biennale of Art 2022 - European Cultural Center Exhibition “Time, Space and Existence”. 23 April 2022-27 November 2022. Palazzo Mora, Venice, Italy
• XIVth Florence Biennale 2023, Italy, 21-29 October 2023
• Solo Exhibition at Musée d'Art, Hôtel Guoin, Tours, France, from 29th March 2023 till 28th August 2023
• Amsterdam International Art Fair, August 18th & 19th 2023
• Institute Camões, Maputo, Mozambique – Postponed, date to be confirmed

Permanent Exhibitions

• Permanent Exhibitor at Mahlstedt Gallery,New York, USA
• Permanent online exhibitor at Saatchi Gallery , London, UK
• Permanent exhibition of reproductions at Restaurant Le Troisieme Acte, Quartier Sablon, Brussels, Belgium