Olivier Lépront

Fascinated by the way the masters illustrated awareness of the theories of optics and refraction, Olivier Lépront draws his inspiration from the canvases of Pieter Claesz and Jean Siméon Chardin, where realism is pushed to the extreme and trompe-l’œil effects are enhanced by lyrical lighting.

The interplay of light and shadow and the brilliance of materials are at the heart of the painter’s reflections: metallic down jackets, aluminum survival blankets, holographic plastic bags and pearly shells are thus elevated to iconic status in his imposing oil paintings.

These new everyday objects, disparaged for their superficiality, are also those of our consumerist society. Through his disturbingly realistic work, Olivier Lépront manages to detect beauty in the midst of utility and futility, transforming contemporary vanities into odes to contemplation.

For Private Choice 2024, a new medium is making its debut in Olivier Lépront’s work: Indian ink. Giving a monochromatic character to his works, it transforms them into trompe-l’œil, with the appearance of black-and-white photographs. This process lends a vintage character to her work, which nonetheless continues to depict subjects drawn from contemporary society. In addition, the use of ink washes undermines the psychedelic appearance of the tyres usually found on the seashore. The artist captures these banal scenes of life and freezes them in an undefined environment, here the beach toy sellers seen in Cefallu in southern Italy.

Olivier Lépront also works on wooden supports to reveal his grandfather’s coat or bathrobe. He presents an iconography of absence and nostalgia. The garment is represented on the floor, laid rather carelessly, the fabric retaining the imprint of the person who once wore it. Only the appearance of the floor, damaged by the passage of time, gives us clues as to the location of the scene and its temporality. These are fragments of the family château on the outskirts of Bordeaux.

The artist also adds admonitory elements to these different scenes: a group of gendarmes from his childhood memory, insects reminding of African masks… These details evoke the concept of ‘memento mori’ that he succeeds in materializing through these scenes charged with emotion and intimacy. We can also recognize a personal version of Van Gogh’s Room in Arles, with the emblematic empty chair.