About
Valérie Lacalmontie, Painter: Approach, style, and biography
My Approach
I remember when my fascination for line and colour was born within me. Looking back, it seems like a logical progression to me, it is a story of the ocean.
The little streams were the classics of comic strips and animation, which I devoured in my early childhood.
The convergence of these small waterways into impetuous rivers made of lines, colours, movements, textures, and emotions occurred during my adolescence, when I enthusiastically discovered the masters of Impressionism and several great sculptors.
I then made my first attempts, trying to paint from photographs.
A little later, my admiration for the Surrealists, especially Dalí's technique, imagination, and freedom of subject matter, finally swept me away on a long voyage of discovery through the different styles that make up the Art of painting, this vast ocean.
In my early period, canvases inspired by photographs quickly began to weary me. The straight stroke and strict line ultimately suffocated me. I felt a need for freedom, emotion, and poetry within me that this genre could not provide.
More undulations, fewer rules and constraints led me to this style described as "Modern Primitive", "Poetic or Surrealist Figurative", it matters little; I paint the way I love, naturally.
My Style
At the crossroads of several influences, my colourful and poetic figurative painting sometimes borders on stylized figuration, modern primitive art, or dreamlike graphics.
This narrative or absurd surrealism gives rise to imaginary scenes where visual humour, fineness of line, and lightness coexist.
This artistic language is structured by the work of sgraffito, a technique of engraving into the fresh paint, which brings a singular sense of escape and depth, particularly to my skies.
Contemporary Animal Paintings
Chickens, cats, or other animals become full characters in their own right, reflecting this blend of tenderness and quirky displacement.
Each painting invites an inner exploration, balanced between dreamlike imagery and meticulous observation.
Biography
Valérie Lacalmontie is a contemporary French painter, born in 1971. She lives and works in the Aquitaine region (Bordeaux area, Arcachon Bay).
Her work explores a poetic figurative art, where the imaginary dialogues with the everyday, blending humour, emotion, and a touch of strangeness.
Largely self-taught, she began her training with evening classes at the Beaux-Arts and a period studying plastic arts at university. Since 1997, she has devoted all her time to painting, developing a highly personal graphic style, recognisable by its precision, its details, and a certain theatricality.
For over twenty years, she has been building a constantly evolving visual universe. Her early work was marked by straight lines and rigid compositions. Then, movement gradually found its way in, bringing a new flexibility, a gentle undulation to both the forms and the narratives.
For a long time, her work was inspired by the sea, the sky, nature, and mental landscapes. However, she successfully stepped out of this comfort zone to tackle other themes: absurd, critical, or more overtly narrative.
Today, this momentum extends into her animations, where each painting becomes a small, living theatre. Her graphic style has become more refined, with each element now treated with particular attention and a dedicated touch. Nothing is left to chance.
Although sometimes associated with Naive Art or Modern Primitivism, she nevertheless claims a free and narrative approach to contemporary figurative art, outside of strict categories.
Since 2025, she has been developing a hybrid animation video practice, blending traditional painting, stop-motion, 2D, and 3D, within a slow, poetic, and artisanal approach.
This slow progression, occasionally punctuated by intense accelerations, reflects a practice that is free yet rigorous, and always open to surprise.
She is also listed on ArtMajeur:
https://www.artmajeur.com/valerie-lacalmontie
Follow my upcoming creations
YEAR'S EXHIBITIONS
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2026: Mâcon Biennale, "Wonderful and Imaginary Worlds" – Salle François-Martin (From May 15th to June 4th)
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“L’expo” of Seignosse | July 13th to August 19th, 2026 – Pôle sportif et culturel Maurice Ravailhe, Seignosse bourg
My work has always evolved through slow phases, defined by movement, line, and subsequently animation.
AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS
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"Honorable Mention" – Salon des Artistes Français, Grand Palais, Paris (2018)
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1st Prize of the City of Biarritz – 17th Brouillarta Festival
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1st Prize for Painting – Martillac
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1st Prize for Painting – Lège-Cap-Ferret
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2nd Prize of the City of Sorèze
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2nd Public Choice Award – Sorèze
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"Honorable Mention" – Valleyfield Arts Festival, Quebec (Canada)
PRIVATE COLLECTIONS:
France, Germany, United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Norway, Belgium, The Netherlands, United States, Canada, Russia, Japan, Australia, Argentina
MUSEUMS
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2017 | International Primitive Art Exhibition – Gualdo Tadino Museum, Italy
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2022 | Current Art Exhibition France-Japan – The National Art Center, Tokyo, Japan
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Permanent Collection – International Museum of Modern Primitive Arts, also known as Naive Arts, in Magog (MIANM), Quebec, Canada
UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS
- Exhibition A33 from March 25 to April 2, 2023 at the Arcachon City Hall - Auction au benefit of La Maison de l'Autisme on April 8 at Tir au Vol d'Arcachon .
- Bulk art at Salies de Béarn from April 8 to 10, 2023.
- "The Expo" from July 17 to August 21, 2023, Maurice Ravailhe room, Seignosse bourg.
PAST EXHIBITIONS
October 2001.IUFM of Clermont-Ferrand.
October 2004.Hotel Ritz, Place Vendome, Paris.
January 2005.Mansion Le Marois, Salons France-Amériques.
Avenue Franklin Roosevelt, Paris.
2014/2016/2018 Town Hall Annex of Pyla.
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2003 Salon Arts Atlantique, La Rochelle.
2004, 2005, 2014 Grand Marché d'Art Contemporain, Bastille, Paris.
2005 Salon Arts Atlantique, La Rochelle.
2005 Grand Contemporary Arts Market, Bastille, Paris.
2002 to 2011 Saint-Luc Gallery, Andernos les Bains.
2005 to 2009 Gallery Saint Martin, Brive.
2013,2014,2015,2016,2017 Brouillarta in Biarritz.
2014,2015,2016,2017,2018,2019,2021 Expo in Seignosse.
2015 26th Clairac International Painting Fair.
2016,2017,2018,2019 The meeting of the natives of Verneuil / Avre.
2017,2019,2020,2022,2023Salon Comparison Grand Palais (Art en Capital)
2017 7th Naive Art Salon with the Primitives Moderns in Versailles.
2017 Guest of honor at the 28th Spring Fair of the city of Tarnos.
2017 Guest of honor at the 38th Tresses Paintings and Sculptures exhibition
2017 Exhibition Reg'art current at the Belfry of Bruges
2017 Exposition , Annex town hall of Pyla.
2017 International Exhibition of Naif Art Gualdo Tadino Museum. Italy
Bayonne
2017 / 2018 Gutman Gallery in Berlin
2017 Guest of honor at the Salon "Méli mél'art" at Rocher Palmer - Cenon.
2018 10th biennale of Naif art Espace Julien Green in Andrésy.
2018 at the Salon of French Artists, Art en Capital, Grand Palais, Paris.
2018 "So funny" space St Nazaire in Sanary sur sea (83110)
2019, 2022 Biennale d'arts Naifs de Macôn
2019 Valleyfield Arts Festival. Quebec. Canada.
2019, 2021,2022 International Exhibition of Naive Arts, Saint Jean Cap Ferrat (06).
2019,2021,2022 Autumn Salon, Champs Elysées, Paris
2022. 14th edition of the Carrefour des Arts - ART'GELOS. Paul
2022 58th Paintings and Sculptures Fair in Mennecy
2022 34th Salon of Saint Brisson sur Loire
2022 Exhibition of Contemporary Art France-Japan. The National Art Center, Tokyo, Japan.al, Quebec (Canada)
PAST SOLO EXHIBITIONS
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October 2001 | IUFM, Clermont-Ferrand
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October 2004 | Ritz Hotel, Place Vendôme, Paris
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January 2005 | Hôtel Particulier Le Marois, Salons France-Amériques, Avenue Franklin Roosevelt, Paris
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2014 / 2016 / 2018 | Pyla City Hall (Annex)
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2017 | L'Atalante Cinema, Bayonne
SPONSORSHIP
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- MOBIGLASS (Acti-Glass dealer): http://www.mobiglass.fr/
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- Automotive Glass Development
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- Mondial - Windscreen
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- CCTA Norisko
MOBIGLASS
ACTIGLASS
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MONDIAL PARE-BRISE
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CCTA NORISKO
