“My paintings are simply the adventures of my mind.”
— Oh de Laval
Oh de Laval, born in 1990, is a Polish-Thai artist who is currently living and working in London and Paris. She is known for creating vibrant, faux-naïf figurative paintings that often depict highly sexualised scenes concerned with hedonism, the pursuit of self-indulgent behaviours. Her work is both beautiful and disturbing, unsettling yet humorous, and it provides an honest, albeit deviant, exploration of human behaviour, decisions, and emotions.
One Eye Open, 2017, was the first and most fully fletched work from her early series featuring super cars and used for Soso’s ‘Long Ride’ single cover which brought a lot of recognition to the young painter. Inspired by American rapper Kanye West's music video Runaway and his album cover Dark Twisted Fantasy created by George Condo, Oh de Laval came into her own style and formed a distinct sensibility by fusing the style of Francis Bacon and the world of Condo and West.
Kanye West, Runaway (2010)
Oh de Laval holds a firm manifesto believing that one should gain inspirations from old artists’ ways of living, rather than their technical way of painting. She never asks for advice or opinions on unfinished paintings as she tries to make her work as original as possible. Her art is therefore an honest reflection of her own personality and fantasies. As she says, 'I’m the only one who knows which one of my paintings is art and which one isn’t … It’s art for me.'i Her confidence and unfiltered honesty are a rare quality in an age that is flooded with anxiety and uncertainty.
Oh de Laval had her solo exhibitions at Galerie Marguo, Paris in 2022 and Unit London, London in 2021. She studied at the Academy of Fine Arts and has a degree in Sociology from the University of Warsaw in Poland. Her works are collected internationally by M+ Museum, Nassima Landau Collection, and Dib Museum.
Oh de Laval, The Theatre, 2019
Sold by Phillips Hong Kong for HK$254,000, 31 March 2023
iUnit London, Oh de Laval’s Artist Bio, 2023, online.
Provenance
Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner in 2018