Olivier Furter was born in Locarno, Switzerland. He took painting classes at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Zurich, the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and the Louvre.
He is a professional artist living in Zurich. He exhibits his work in Switzerland, France and Belgium.
He presents oil paintings, a traditional practice that he directs towards a form of contemporary creation. His subjects are figurative or abstract; he paints landscapes as well as figures.
He often draws inspiration from personal photographs or works from life. He is particularly interested in the boundary between figurative and abstract images. By enlarging a detail and using unusual framing, he seeks to create confusion.
He is a newcomer member of Visarte, the visual arts association in Switzerland, and a member of the artists’ association Ateliers d’artistes de Belleville in Paris.
Switzerland and France are home to his work studios.
CV
Works and lives in Zürich, Locarno and Paris
1980–1984: courses at the Zurich School of Applied Arts and at F+F under Rosina Kuhn
1985–1986: lived and worked in London
1989–2013: lived and worked in in Paris
2016–2018: education in life drawing at the École Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris
2018: joined the Belleville Artists’ Studios Association, Paris
2019–2023: education in copying the Old Masters at the Louvre Museum, Paris
2023–2026: education in oil painting with Mélissa Pinon at the City of Paris Fine Arts Studios
GALLERY REPRESENTATION
Le Salon de Léon, Beenhouwersstraat 26, 8000 Bruges, Belgium
GRANTS AND AWARDS
2026: Artist-in-Residence in Ôtawara Institute of Art and Cultural Studies in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan
July 25 to August 15.
GROUP EXHIBITIONS (SELECTION)
2026: Salamandre Festival 20th Anniversary, Artists’ Gallery Selection, 1110 Morges, Switzerland
2026: Belleville Artists’ Open House, VILLA BELLEVILLE, 23 Rue Ramponeau, 75020 Paris
2025: ZEIT UND ERINNERUNG, Members’ Exhibition, Kunsthaus Zofingen, CH-4800 Zofingen,
2024: LIGHT ROOM, RossArt Gallery, Clausiusstrasse 64, 8006 Zurich, Switzerland
2024: Belleville Artists’ Open House, Ayyem Zamen, 7 rue de Pali-Kao, Paris 20th
2023: ARBRES, “59 RIVOLI” Gallery, 59 rue de Rivoli, 75001 Paris
2023: Belleville Artists’ Open House, Galerie Floréal, 75020 Paris
2022: Little Big Art, Galerie des AAB, 1 rue Francis Picabia, 75020 Paris
2022: Belleville Artists’ Open House, Galerie Floréal, 75020 Paris
2021: FARBE UND TRAUM, Member Exhibition, Kunsthaus Zofingen, 4800 Zofingen, Switzerland
2021: ÉTRANGES ÉCLATS, Galerie des AAB, 1 rue Francis Picabia, 75020 Paris
2020: MODERN LANDSCAPES 2, AAB Gallery, 1 rue Francis Picabia,75020 Paris