Olsjon Lamaj

Olson Lamaj is a visual artist and lecturer at the Department of Art and Design at Polis University. Since 2020, he has been engaged in the development of courses in museography, photography and painting. He completed his studies in painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence and received an M.A. in artistic photography from the Brera Academy of Fine Arts in Milan. His work focuses on social and political themes, with particular attention to contemporary Albanian life and universal systems of meaning. His projects emphasize the semiotic saturation and mystical qualities of images linked to political ideologies.

In addition to his academic career, Lamaj is the co-founder of MIZA Galeri, an artistic space in Tirana active from 2012 to 2017, dedicated to supporting young contemporary artists. He is also the editor and curator of ‘Pararoja’, an independent platform for artistic publications, founded in 2020, that explores alternative editorial possibilities in contemporary art through fanzines and alternative publications. Olson has represented Pararoja at fairs such as Athens Art Book Fair, Lule Shqiponja in Tirana and Fanzine in Vienna.

Among others, Lamaj is the winner of the Ardhje award in 2013 and has participated in several international artistic residencies such as: ISCP (New York 2013), KulturKontakt (Austria 2018) and Studio das weisse haus (Vienna 2019).

His solo exhibitions include: Transitioning into Green (Galeria Zeta, Tirana 2023), Between Pattern and Shadow (Galeria 17, Prishtina), The Cat Above and the Mouse Below (Bazamant Art Space, Tirana 2019), Holy Muscle (Hoast Project, Vienna 2017), and (Over)Identification (Tulla Cultural Center, Tirana 2015).

Collective exhibitions include: Beyond Matter EU: Immerse (Tallinn Art Hall), A for Unapologetic (Vaska Gallery, Sofia), Nuit Blanche (Prizren), The In Between State of Mind (Budapest), Altered State (Kunsthalle Exnergasse, Vienna), Du Order Ich? Collective Soul (Melk), Post – Young Albanian Artists (Fondazione Museo Pino Pascali), The Whale That Was a Submarine (Muzeu Ludwig, Budapest), Dark Chapters (<rotor>, Graz), and Nationless (Centre for Contemporary Art, Thessaloniki).

www.olsonlamaj.com