As a fan of Laurent Impeduglia, I can relate to his chaotic expressions that provide logic to his own passionate emotions and thoughts. However, I had never come across an article that provided me an in-depth look into the reason behind the chaos. So, I took it upon myself to seek out the reason and fortunately, Laurent granted me the opportunity to do so. I cannot promise what you will or will not gain from this exuberant Belgian artist, but I can promise that his growing pains and artistic ambition, will allow you to gain something that does not reflect a price, but rather the value of creative culture.
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B: Your introduction to art was through tragedy, which was your brother’s death. What was it about his death that motivated you to begin painting?
L: My brother died in 1990 when I was 16 years old. He was 18 years old. Today, the sorrow and his absence are still painful. We can learn to live with a death, but we are never able to recover completely. I lost all my points of reference, and that is why a part of me is still today in the remembrance of that time. His death forced me to cling to other things and to start a new life. Art gave me hope back. Nothing has changed in my determination since. On the contrary, this has enabled me to live day after day.
B: Describe your childhood and your environment growing up in Belgium.
L: I am filled with anxiety just by reading this question. I always try to live without thinking about the remembrance of my past, but it is impossible. Start a new life with people I like today would be the best solution for me. Nevertheless, I have to deal with the devils of my childhood and try to make a fresh start every day. My childhood was a succession of ordeals and wonderful memories. When I was between 4 and 6 years old, doctors discovered that I had the Legg-Calve-Perthes disease. It is an osteonecrosis of the femoral head. I was like “Forest Gump” at the beginning of the movie, when he walks with his metal braces. The memories of when I was between 5 and 7 years old are more difficult to express. Indeed, my father-in-law, Lorenzo Impeduglia, decided to take charge of my sexual arousal. Fortunately, I was “just” a victim of sexual touching. From that moment, I have felt rebellious against the world of adults and against authority. I had a lot of difficulties to communicate during my childhood. I also discovered the religion with my father-in-law because we went to the church every Sunday in order to perfect my Judeo-Christian education. Then, between my 12 and 16 years old, it was rock’n’roll! I was not introverted anymore, but very rebellious and determined to avenge the world! When I was a teenager, I smoked cannabis, but this addiction led my brother to hard drugs and the effects of heroin were devastating. He always forbade me to take drugs, just as he already knew their harmful effects. I gave up taking drugs when I entered the Royal Academy of Beaux-Arts during the winter of 1990. This school gave me a second chance in life.
B: When I view your work, I see surreal societies and landscape structures that not only captivate, but also stimulate a viewer’s mind. I’m curious to know what type of narratives do you use for your artwork?
L: It is a fact that I would not have become an artist if my brother was not dead. I learned to start over by reading diverse books and integrating influences of the 80’s, culture, video games and music. My father has always been very esoteric. He had books about occult sciences that I tried to skim through. Then I discovered the alchemy and Jacques Van Lennep’s book “Art et Alchimie” (Art and Alchemy), which explained me my images. This led me to Jérome Bosch’s work whose alchemic symbols are ubiquitous and orchestrate his work in a remarkable way. That is how I established my quest. Today, I learn a lot thanks to my girlfriend. It is a fact that she fully plays her muse role. She is very sensible and patient. She often helps me to find the reason back when I am lost in my consciousness. She also does traditional Reiki Usui and takes her inspiration from Thich Nhat Hanh’s lessons, who is a Buddhist monk who has brought Buddha’s messages into the western culture.
B: The element of elevation is used in your paintings a lot, whether it’s staircases or hills. Is there emphasis of elevation in your life that allows it to transition in your artwork?
L: In effect, this will of elevation comes from alchemy. V.I.T.R.I.O.L (Visita Interiora Terrae Rectificandoque Invenies Occultum Lapidem) can be translated by “Visit the center of the Earth and if you rectify, you will find the occult stone”. This is an initiatory path, a quest of the philosopher’s stone, a research of an intern balance. Both my temples and my mountains are like ziggurats, or links between the earth and the sky which consist of ordeals and obstacles on the way towards wise and inner peace.
B: (Complete this sentence) The inspiration for your paintings comes from...
L: In parallel with what I have already mentioned, my brother and I had known the Golden Age of video games. My father won our first computer during a competition. It was a MSX and we played the mythic game called Chiller. Then, all the computers and consoles succeeded each other (Atari, Schneifer, Commodore, etc.) and my vision of the world has taken an isometric perspective.
B: In America, many art programs are becoming out of reach for the youth, whether by financial terms or cultural terms. Does Belgium have this same issue or is their encouragement for Belgian youth to pursue the arts?
L: As far as I am concerned, I do not know whether there is more or less founds for the artists here. What I know is that where I am living, people know not so much the category of art I defend. That is also why I have some difficulties to integrate myself in the programs which have been implemented for the contemporary art. My work is still marginalized and does not correspond necessarily to the diktats of contemporary art conducts. Nevertheless, I like to feel an outcast as well.
B: How would you define the Belgian art scene in comparison to other art cultures across the world?
L: There is something recurrent in the Belgian art: humor and self-derision. Personally, humor makes me go out of a kind of despair and makes me escape my dark ideas. We always find this balance between joy and sadness in my paintings, and this enables me to escape death constantly.
B: How has being an artist affected your views of society?
L: I do not know if I am an engaged artist. This is not my goal. I am rather a classic painter: I paint society as I see it. That is why all the realities of our world (capitalism, fascism, contamination, religion, etc.) can be found in my paintings.
B: In 2008, you received the Louise Dehem Award of the Royal Belgian Academy, which critics believed was a new larger success for you. Do you think the award helped define your fame as an international artist?
L: No, not at all, even though it is an appreciable award. According to me, my will to go ahead day after day is responsible for my notoriety. My determination is more efficient than any award.
B: Who or what is responsible for how expressive you are through your paintings?
L: Above the Pop Shit aspect of my paintings and above my will to improve the “DO IT YOURSELF” aspect (which enhances the characters’ expression), I try to be the most honest possible and to write in relation with what I think. From 2008, I have started to integrate this duality between happiness and sadness. I am living with the pain and my anxiety because they are parts of me, but I live in love with my family and this love allows me to feel happy again. We can find this happiness in each of my paintings.
B: If you could describe what each of these two pieces unveil about you:
L: I generally do not like to describe my pictures. I always think that once a painting is finished, it does not belong to me anymore. It is the spectator’s turn to make it alive again through his sight and his past. However, I think that the painting “Winner” is clear enough with all the information I've just gave you, even though it still has a part of chaos and surprise that I cannot explain because I never fully control the painting. As far as the painting “States of Enchantment” is concerned, it is about where I live every day!
B: If you had one last chance to paint one thing that would complete your legacy. What would you paint and why?
L: It is difficult to answer because all my work is a permanent escape and a fight against death. I live every day with this idea and that is certainly why I work so much. I do not want to have any regret. Nevertheless, I still have a lot of paintings to do and many projects in progress that I absolutely have to carry out.
B: Would you care if you had never become a successful painter?
L: What gives me strength to go ahead is not the promise of glory, but the fact that art helps me to start over. If it was not the case, I would have already given up painting! Sometimes, we can think candidly that we have achieved a stage and are successful now, but which stage is it?
B: What advice will you give to other artists who struggle to be true to their art?
L: The best advice that I can give to a young artist would be to find the satisfaction in what he does day after day. You do not have to expect in return something else other than self-fulfillment. It takes a long way to go out of shadows and finally enter in the light. You have to rebuild and to reinvent everything. It may not end and it will not end!
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A major thank you to Laurent Impeduglia for this interview + please check out more of Laurent's artwork here.