Olivier Lamboray
Paintings
Belgium
About the artist
"Since childhood, I have been fascinated by the magical feeling of the surreal dream".
Olivier Lamboray is an award-winning Belgian surrealist artist/painter whose work has been exhibited in France, Monaco, Belgium and the USA. His ubiquitous blues focus on the use of softness and colour to evoke enchanting dreams of blossoming hearts and joyful romance, creating a heightened sense of optimism and leading the viewer into the artist's fascinating, expansive visual world.
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International 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 childhood I have been fascinated by the magical feeling of the surreal dream I have been painting for 30 years and have travelled the world for many years, mostly living in remote places, from the Himalayan mountains to an almost deserted island in the Andaman Sea. Often these were places where time seemed to have stopped 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 gradually shaped my goals and 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. It is always positive, sometimes nostalgic, but full of love. Stories from my heart. It shows a world where I really feel at home, where the sky is always blue, where I forget the reality and the roughness of this world and the gravity that pulls us down. I like to let elements float, to mix things, to romanticise my stories, to embrace love like a half-hidden, half-perceived secret. The settings are half-present and half-imagined, appearing and disappearing, reflecting the transience of life and the bottomless pit of reality. Is it just a dream, a thought or a mental construction? By addressing different levels of perception, my style emphasises the importance of the viewer and his role in understanding this world. Evaporating elements or bricks on some walls allow us 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 travelled into another dimension of time/space dynamics? What is our role in this perception? Is it only a personal construction, and can we transcend this plane to another and reach deeper layers of life itself? Looking through the curtain of reality sends me to other times in space and past histories. The effects of leftover energy and self-repeating cycles. This evokes feelings we can't always understand, those déjà vu feelings we feel deep inside but don't know where they come from or when. The infinity of the soul. The imprints of our actions floating in the universe. I like to wander along this path, opening gigantic clocks like vortexes and travelling into other dimensions, discovering other wonders, deep inside 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 spirit, and being able to bring them to life through my hand. The energy of a thought transforming 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 be able to pull secrets from somewhere far away in space and present them right before our eyes is magical. It's all there, in me, in us. We just have to delve deeper to experience the beauty of life itself, through eternity. While love is the main engine of my work, I focus my research on the concept of time, its transience, our place in the universe, outer space, its wonders and mysteries. Each image leads me closer to who I really am. Whaoaaw, what a journey. It is amazing!
Works | Series
References
Awards
2018 Rankart - Painting competition - 3rd place - France 2018 GEMLUCART- Grand Prix (1st place)- Monaco, Monaco 2017 Artempo- Public Prize- France 2017 GEMLUCART- Focus Prize- Monaco, Monaco 2017 Rankart - Painting competition- 1st Jury Prize- France 2016 Arts et lettres de France- Prix Galerie Thuillier- Toulouse, France
Solo exhibitions
2023 Solo Exhbition / Musée d'art - Hotel Guoin - Tours, France 2021 Voyages & Dreams / Fondation Pierre Majerus - Bruxelles, Belgium 2018 Malhstedt Gallery / New Rochelle - New York, United States
Group exhibitions
2022 Amsterdam International Art Fair Exhibition / Beurs van Berlage (This Art Fair) - Amsterdam, The Netherlands 2022 Venice Art Biennale / Venice Art Biennale - Venice, Italy 2018 111 des Arts Toulouse / Hotel Dieu - Toulouse, France 2018 Gemlucart / Auditorium Rainier III - Monaco, Monaco 2017 Gemlucart / Auditorium Rainier III - Monaco, Monaco 2016 Gallery 713 / Knokke-Heist - Knokke, Belgium