Laurent Ajina

BORN IN 1970 IN PARIS, AJINA FIRST STUDIED AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ARCHITECTURE PARIS LA SEINE BEFORE DEDICATING HIMSELF ENTIRELY TO THE VISUAL ARTS. AJINA'S WORKS HAVE BEEN SHOWN IN NUMEROUS INTERNATIONAL SOLO EXHIBITIONS, FOR INSTANCE IN PARIS, BERLIN AND NEW YORK. SINCE 2006, HE HAS CREATED OVER SIXTY MONUMENTAL WALL DRAWINGS in BOTH PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SPACES.

Strongly inspired by his urban environment, Ajina has developed a vocabulary over the course of his career based on abstract lines, networks and rhythmical systems always executed with a black marker. The resulting drawings are at the core of his artistic practice and serve as structural grid for the construction of his works either on canvas, cardboards or directly on the walls. The variation of three different types of surfaces allows Ajina to experiment with light, space and materials. His personal memories are crossed over with his physical experience of space as the artist builds pulsating organic landscapes.

Site-specific by its nature, Laurent Ajina’s practice unfolds in the form of large murals of rhizomatic lines created in public or private spaces. The artist works both in nature and the city, using installations of drawings on cardboards that artificially complete the landscape. Borrowing equally from cave painting, digital tracing and cartography, his line, drawn with marker or charcoal, is oriented to the medium and the space in which it exists. Restrained or monumental, Laurent Ajina’s drawings are contemporary witnesses, cryptic in their way, of the artist’s presence and his relationship to the world.
He lives and works between Vienna, Paris and Los Angeles.

WALL DRAWING PRIVATE AND PUBLIC COLLECTION

2022 RUE DANIELLE CASANOVA, PRIVATE HOME, PARIS, FR
2022 LOVIS BAR, WILMINA HOTEL, BERLIN, DE
2022 GALERIE CRONE, BERLIN, DE
2022 Palazzo Viola, Quattro Quanti, Palermo, IT
2021 Giese and Schweiger, Vienna, AT
2021 WOODEN SAWMILL FACTORY, MEGEVE, FR
2021 KANTSTRASSE, AMT Salon, Berlin, DE
2021 HOTEL DROUOT, PARIS, FR
2021 NEUGASSE, PART#2, PRIVATE HOUSE, HINTERBRÜHL, AT
2021 NEUGASSE, PART#1, PRIVATE HOUSE, HINTERBRÜHL, AT
2020 NEUTORGASSE, PRIVATE HOME, VIENNA, AT
2020 MESSERSCHMIDTGASSE, PRIVATE HOME, VIENNA, AT
2020 MARC-AUREL-STRASSE, PRIVATE HOME, VIENNA, AT  
2019 PARALLEL VIENNA, PRATERSTRASSE, VIENNA, AT  
2018 BERTRAND GRIMONT GALLERY, PARIS, FR  
2018 Praterstern, Parallel, Vienna, AT
2018 CENTRAL STATION, LITTMANN KULTURPROJEKTE, BASEL, CH  
2018 ERDBERGSTRASSE, PRIVATE HOUSE, VIENNA, AT  
2017 QUANTIC DREAM, HEADOFFICE, PARIS, FR  
2017 KUPELWIESERGASSE, PRIVATE HOUSE, VIENNA, AT  
2016 RUE GERMAIN PILON, PRIVATE HOME, PARIS, FR  
2016 METTERNICHGASSE, PRIVATE HOME, VIENNA, AT  
2016 RUDOLFSPLATZ, PRIVATE HOME, VIENNA, AT  
2016 ANTONIE-ALT-GASSE, PRIVATE HOME, VIENNA, AT  
2016 ESTERHAZYGASSE, PRIVATE HOME, VIENNA, AT  
2015 TRIDENT GRAND RESIDENCE BUILDING, DUBAI MARINA, AE 
2014 RUE D'AUMALE, PRIVATE HOME, PARIS, FR  
2014 GALERIE IDEA FIXA, "MENTAL MILES", BASEL, CH  
2013 CHÂTEAU DE LA CRÉE, "IN BETWEEN", SANTENAY, FR 
2013 SIEVERINGER STRASSE, PRIVATE HOUSE, VIENNA, AT  
2013 CHALET LA PUNT, LA PUNT- CHAMUE-CH, CH  
2013 AXA HEADQUARTERS, "36 POINTS DE CONVERGENCE", PARIS, FR  
2013 NEUSTIFTGASSE, PRIVATE HOME, PARIS, FR  
2012 LOISIUM SÜDSTEIERMARK, "GAÏA STYRIA", EHRENHAUSEN, AT  
2012 BÄCKERSTRASSE4, "PASSEUR #1", VIENNA, AT  
2010 RIEBENBAUER, "DÉVIATION", FORMER STUDIOS OF WIENER WERKSTÄTTE, VIENNA, AT  
2010 LE CENTQUATRE, "ASCENSION INVERSÉE", PARIS, FR  
2009 AXA HEAD OFFICE, "36 POINTS DE CONVERGENCE", PARIS, FR  
2009 YBDD STUDIO, "COMBINATION FOR A MONUMENT", BERLIN  
2009 DESIGN WEEK, BERLIN, DE  
2009 54ÈME SALON DE MONTROUGE, CURATED BY STÉPHANE CORRÉARD, MONTROUGE, FR  
2009 RUE DU GÉNÉRAL CAMOU, PRIVATE HOME, PARIS, FR  
2009 CHÂTEAU DE LA CRÉE, "IN BETWEEN", SANTENAY, FR  
2009 RUDOLFPLATZ, PRIVATE HOME, BERLIN, DE  
2008 STADE DE FRANCE, "RETOUR SUR TERRE!", CURATED BY CAROLINE MESSENSEE, ST-DENIS, FR  
2008 GALLERY DAM STUHLTRAGER, "THE PERFECT LINE ?", BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, US  
2008 WÄHRINGERSTRASSE, PRIVATE HOME, VIENNA, AT  
2007 CHESA CHASTLATSCH, HOTEL CASTEL, ZUOZ, CH  
2007 LANIFICIO25, NAPLES, IT 
2007 VIA CAPPELLA VECCHIA, PRIVATE HOME, NAPLES, IT  
2007 E-HALLE, GALERIE MARC DE PUECHREDON, "10+10", BASEL, CH  
2006 GALERIE MARC DE PUECHREDON, "MODULAR WORLD", BASEL, CH  
2006 STEINENRING, PRIVATE HOUSE, BASEL, CH

SOLO SHOW

2022 PALERMO PAINTINGS, GALERIE CRONE, BERLIN, DE
2021 GRAND SLAM, GIESE UND SCHWEIGER, Vienna, AT
2020 CALIFORNIA_LINE, GALERIE CRONE, VIENNA, AT
2018 MIND MATTER, BERTRAND GRIMONT GALLERY, PARIS, FR 
2017 ABOUT LOS ANGELES, ARTCURIAL, VIENNA, AT 
2017 CARDBOARDS ARTCURIAL, VIENNA, AT,
2016 LE GARAGE, SCHLOSS KIRCHSTETTEN, NIEDERÖSTERREICH, AT  
2015 BON COURAGE, GALERIE BIENENSTEIN, VIENNA, AT 
2014 MENTAL MILES, GALERIE IDEA FIXA, BASEL, CH  
2013 MIRAGE, GALERIE IDEA FIXA AND CHÂTEAU PAPILLON DES ARTS, ST. MORITZ, CH  
2013 THE SOLO PROJECT, GALERIE LOT10, ST JAKOBSHALLE, BASEL, CH  
2012 RUINS OF HYPOCRISY, GALERIE IDEA FIXA, BASEL, CH  
2011 GLOSSAIRE FRAGMENTÉ, GALERIE LOT10, BRUSSELS, BE  
2010 ASCENSION INVERSÉE, LE CENTQUATRE, PARIS, FR  
2010 BLACK INTERVENING OBJECTS, VIENNA DESIGN WEEK, GALERIE RAUMINHALT, VIENNA, AT  
2009 COMBINATION FOR A MONUMENT, BERLIN DESIGN WEEK, YBDD STUDIO, BERLIN, DE  
2009 IN BETWEEN, CHÂTEAU DE LA CRÉE, SANTENAY, FR  
2008 THE PERFECT LINE ?, GALLERY DAM STUHLTRAGER, BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, US 
2007 LANIFICIO25, ARTIST IN RESIDENCY PROGRAM, NAPLES, IT 
2006 MODULAR WORLD, GALERIE MARC DE PUECHREDON, BASEL, CH  

GROUP SHOW

2022 Genius Loci experience, Auguste Perret home, curated by Marion Vignal, Paris, FR
2022 ARCO FERIA MADRID WITH GALERIE CRONE, MADRID, ES
2021 AMT SALON, GALERIE CRONE, BERLIN, DE
2019 A MATTER OF FORM, CURATED BY SILVIE AIGNER, NIEDERÖSTERREICH, AT 
2015 SMALL WORLDS, GALERIE IDEA FIXA, BASEL, CH 
2013 TRACÉS, CURATED BY JULIE CRENN, GALERIE LOT10, BRUSSELS, BE  
2013 PASSEUR #2, CURATED BY CAROLINE MESSENSEE, GALERIE ODILE OUIZEMAN, PARIS, FR  
2012 PASSEUR #1, CURATED BY CAROLINE MESSENSEE, KÜNSTLERHAUS, VIENNA, AT  
2011 KAPLAN PROJECT N°3, PALAZZO DI CAPUA, NAPLES, IT  
2011 DESIDERATA, CURATED BY ALEXANDRA LOEWE, GALERIE YUKIKO KAWASE, PARIS, FR  
2010 IDEA FIXA NR.1, CURATED BY RETO METTLER & ANINA MICHEL, RIEHEN, CH  
2011 REDVESUVIO, NAPOLI 0’CURT FESTIVAL, INSTITUT FRANÇAIS LE GRENOBLE, NAPLES, IT  
2009 IN BED TOGETHER, CURATED BY JANE GLASSMAN, ROYAL/T, LOS ANGELES, US  
2009 MÉCANIQUES AMOUREUSES, CURATED BY CAROLINE MESSENSEE, PARCOURS PRIVÉ FIAC, MAISON GUERLAIN, PARIS, FR  
2009 54ÈME SALON DE MONTROUGE, CURATED BY STÉPHANE CORRÉARD, MONTROUGE, FR  
2008 LIVE AT SUPREME TRADING, WILLIAMSBURG, BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, US  
2008 RETOUR SUR TERRE!, CURATED BY CAROLINE MESSENSEE, STADE DE FRANCE, ST-DENIS, FR  
2007 10+10, GALERIE MARC DE PUECHREDON, BASEL, CH  
2006 VANITAS, GALERIE MARC DE PUECHREDON, BASEL, CH  
2006 INSOLENCE, CURATED BY CAROLINE MESSENSEE, PARCOURS PRIVÉ FIAC, MAISON GUERLAIN, PARIS, FR

 BIBLIOGRAPHY

2022 Dessin dans l'art contemporain, by Barbara Soyer, 312 PAGES, 80 ARTISTS, 21,5 X 26,5 CM, Pyramyd eDITIONS / BUY

2020 The Drawer vol.19, Noir / Black, Hiver / Winter 2020, 160 p., 17 x 24 cm, Dist. Les presses du réel / BUY

2017 THE MAT-MAKER, LAURENT AJINA, CHAPTER #47, MOBY DICK FILET. LIMITED EDITION ISSUE OF 460 COPIES, HARPUNE VERLAG EDITOR, VIENNA, AT / BUY

2013 A L'INTÉRIEUR, ‘LAURENT AJINA’, TEXT BY JULIE CRENN, LIMITED EDITION OF 50 COPIES. EDITOR: LES ÉDITIONS DERRIÈRE LA SALLE DE BAIN. PUBLISHER: MARIE-LAURE DAGOIT, FR / BUY

2012 RUINS OF HYPOCRISY, ‘LAURENT AJINA’, ORIGINAL TEXTS BY RETO THÜRING, JULIE CRENN, NATHALIE H. DE SAINT PHALLE, MARGARETA SANDHOFER. PHOTOS BY ANNA STÖCKER, MARCEL KOEHLER, STEPHEN ROACH, REBECCA FANUELE. EDITOR: GALERIE IDEA FIXA, BASEL, CH. PUBLISHER: 9.6 PUBLICATIONS, BASEL, CH / BUY

2010 DEVIATION, ‘LAURENT AJINA’, CONTRIBUTORS: FRANZ RIEBENBAUER (CONCEPT AND DESIGN), LAURENT AJINA (WALL DRAWING), SYLVAIN ESTIBAL (TEXT), MARCEL KOEHLER (PHOTOGRAPHY). EDITOR: RIEBENBAUER DESIGN. COLLECTION: RIEBENBAUER DESIGN ART PROJECT, VIENNA, AT / BUY

RESIDENCIES

2010 LE CENTQUATRE, PARIS, FR  
2007 LANIFICIO25, NAPLES, IT

EDUCATION    

1995-93 ATELIER PENNINGHEN, PARIS, FR  
1992-90 UNIVERSITY OF ARCHITECTURE PARIS LA SEINE, PARIS, FR