Olivier O. Olivier

(1931-2011)

Olivier O. Olivier, whose real name was Pierre-Marie Olivier, was born in Paris on May^1, 1931. He was introduced to drawing and painting at an early age by his father, Ferdinand Olivier (1873-1957), a painter in the tradition of Post-Impressionism. After graduating in philosophy from the Sorbonne, Olivier O. Olivier entered the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 1954, at a time when informal art was gaining ground. He studied painting in Raymond Legueult’s studio, where he met Roland Topor, with whom he forged a deep friendship. Olivier O. Olivier is classically trained, ensuring technical mastery of his means of expression. At the Académie de la Grande Chaumière, he also took drawing classes with Edouard Goerg, whose fantastic graphic universe is close to symbolism.

In 1949, Olivier O. Olivier joined the Collège de ‘Pataphysique, a “society of useless and learned research”, co-founded the previous year by Emmanuel Peillet, his high school philosophy teacher. A “science of imaginary solutions” and “science of exceptions”, invented by Alfred Jarry, the creator of Ubu, ‘Pataphysique has over the years brought together personalities who share the same taste for the offbeat and the out of touch, including Raymond Queneau, Boris Vian, Eugène Ionesco, Michel Leiris and, among artists, Marcel Duchamp and Max Ernst. In 1999, Olivier O. Olivier joined OUPEINPO, created within the Collège in 1980 as a contraction of OUvroir de PEINture POtentielle, the painting equivalent of OULIPO in literature, a literary research group founded in 1960 by mathematician François Le Lionnais and Raymond Queneau. The challenge is to invent new forms of painting. Olivier is Regent of Onirography and Satrape of the Collège de ‘Pataphysique.

In 1963, he joined the Panique group created a year earlier by his friend Roland Topor, Fernando Arrabal and Alexandro Jodorowsky. A “joyful parody of surrealism[1] “The Panique spirit is characterized by a predilection for play, humor, derision and the absurd. Each artist unleashes his or her creativity freely. At this time, his artist name was Olivier O. Olivier.

The following year, he exhibited for the first time at the ^XVth Salon de la Jeune Peinture, a show that championed figuration, which was enjoying a revival at the time with the presence of Gilles Aillaud and Edouardo Arroyo, protagonists of the nouvelle figuration – Figuration narrative. Olivier O. Olivier also exhibited there in 1965. In 1967, he joined the Salon’s Committee, becoming a member the following year, when he took part in the “Salle Rouge pour le Vietnam” with Aigle pris dans les lianes (Musée d’Art Moderne, Paris) alongside twenty-four other artists. The events of spring 1968 prevented the Salon from being held that year. The works were presented in January 1969 at the ARC at the Musée d’Art Moderne in Paris. Olivier O. Olivier remained a member of the Salon Committee in 1969. He exhibited there until 1970.

His world, a realism tinged with “discreet strangeness[2] “and burlesque oddities, fully asserted itself at the dawn of the seventies as one of the contributions of a new generation of artists.[3]. The Chasses de naphtalines (1967), depicting a hand with moth-catching nets on its fingers, marks the starting point.

He exhibited at the Salon de Mai, dedicated to young painters, in 1970, 1971 and 1972. In 1972, he also exhibited at the Balans gallery in Amsterdam, and was one of the artists selected by François Mathey to illustrate the panorama of Douze ans d’Art contemporain en France, an official exhibition initiated by President Georges Pompidou and presented at the Grand Palais during the spring and summer.[4].

Olivier O. Olivier’s first solo exhibition dates back to 1973 at the Aurora gallery in Geneva.

In 1976, he moved into a studio on rue de la Gaîté, which he maintained throughout his career. From that year onwards, he exhibited at the Jean Briance gallery in Paris, founded by Jean Thuillier and Claudine Martin, and in the 1990s at the Galerie de France. At the same time, the Sonia Zannettacci gallery in Geneva also regularly presented his work.

In addition to France and Switzerland, he has exhibited in Belgium, Italy (Venice Biennale in 1982), China since 1999, Turkey, the United States and regularly at numerous international fairs (Art Basel, Art Chicago, Art Miami, FIAC, ARCO Madrid, Art Shangaï).

His latest series, in 2010 and 2011, depict suspended crabs and pallets next to suspended body parts.

Olivier O. Olivier was awarded the Grand Prix de l’humour noir in 2006. He died in April 2011 at the age of almost eighty. He is buried in the Montparnasse cemetery.

Works by the artist are held in public collections including: Musée National d’Art Moderne, Centre Pompidou; Musée d’Art Moderne, Paris; Fonds National d’Art Contemporain; Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Département des Estampes et de la Photographie ; Musée des Beaux-Arts, Lausanne; Musée de L’Institut Central des Beaux-Arts, Beijing.

[1] Philippe Garnier, “Olivier l’intemporel,” in Frédéric Pajak (ed.), Olivier O. Olivier. Paintings Paris, Les Cahiers dessinés, 2019, p. 25.

[2] Philippe Dagen, Le Monde, Paris, April 21, 2011.

[3] Jean Clair, Art in France. A new generation of artists Paris, Chêne, 1972, a work for which the magazine Chroniques de l’art vivant was the laboratory from November 1968 onwards.

[4] François Mathey (dir.), Douze ans d’Art contemporain en France, cat. exp. Paris, Réunion des musées nationaux, 1972, p. 290-291.