Olivier Lépront

Fascinated by the way the great masters illustrate awareness of the theories of optics and refractionOlivier Lépront draws his inspiration from the paintings 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 play of light and shadow and and the brilliance of materials are at the heart of the painter's reflections: metallic down jackets, aluminum survival blankets, holographic plastic bags or 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. In this disturbingly realistic work, Olivier Lépront succeeds in to detect beauty in the midst of utility and futilitytransforming contemporary vanities into odes to contemplation.

For Private Choice 2024, a new medium enters Olivier Lépront's oeuvre: Indian ink. Giving a monochromatic character to his works, it transforms them into trompe-l'œil, with the appearance of black-and-white photographs. The use of ink washes not only gives her work a vintage character, but also undermines the psychedelic appearance of the inflatables usually found on the seashore. The artist captures banal scenes of life, which he freezes in an undefined environment. Here, the artist has taken as his model the beach toy sellers he observed in Cefallu, southern Italy.

Olivier Lépront also works on wooden supports, revealing his grandfather's coat or bathrobe. He presents an iconography of absence and nostalgia The garment lies carelessly on the floor, retaining the imprint of the man 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 adds symbolic elements: gendarmes reminiscent of his childhood, insects with motifs evoking African masks... These details embody the concept of "memento mori". "memento moricreating intimate, moving scenes. His work is reminiscent of a personal version of Van Gogh's Room in Arleswith its emblematic empty chair.