Born in Paris in 1967, Laurent La Gamba studied at the Sorbonne University (1993-98), from where he was awarded his MA on the subject of "First clinical cases in psychoanalysis". After travelling abroad, especially to USA, La Gamba started painting in the vein of the French Figuration Libre movement from his studio in Monléon-Magnoac (Hautes-Pyrénées). Using acrylic paint on large canvases, La Gamba's early works include close-up portraits of family and friends, followed by a series of self-portraits in a photorealist style.
In 2001 La Gamba was awarded a Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant and became artist in residence at the La Napoule Art Foundation (Mandelieu, France). It is during this period that he produced his first in-situ camouflage and pro-cryptic installations, which attracted international recognition with exhibitions held in Asia, Australia, Europe and USA.
Laurent La Gamba's is currently working on a series of sculptures/installations using stainless steel. Entitled "Pandemonium of Versatile Objects" this marks a shift from his previous artistic trajectory.
Laurent La Gamba has also authored several books. The first of which A Californian Odyssey (2012) charts the voyage of discovery of a young Frenchman living in California during the 1980s. La Gamba’s writing is a mixture of autobiography and fiction, and reflect his interest in psychoanalysis as well as his, at times uncomfortable, relationship with French culture and social behaviour.
Further writing includes; Welcome to Lethargy land (2013), Willing Suspension of Disbelief (2014), the Monlywood Trilogy: Monlywood, Monlywood Encore and Monlywood Apothéose (2015), The Estheticon (2014) and Fuck the French! (2015). La Gamba also wrote A Contribution to American Art History: 24 revisited works from the Whitney Museum (2014).
En Francais: http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurent_La_Gam