PAUL TRAJMAN
BIOGRAPHY
Paul Trajman (b. 1960, Brussels) is a Belgian artist whose work is rooted in the legacy of Art Brut and the COBRA movement.
Working primarily in black ink, he develops a visual language driven by gesture, immediacy and inner necessity.
Rejecting correction and premeditation, his practice unfolds through a direct and continuous act of drawing, where instinct prevails over composition.
Figures, faces, signs and hybrid forms emerge through an automatic process, oscillating between abstraction and figuration. His works reveal a dense and pulsating inner world, shaped by both spontaneity and tension.
During the 1980s, Trajman was closely connected to Belgian artist Stéphane Mandelbaum, who portrayed him in Portrait of Paul Trajman (circa 1985).
Trajman's work resonates with that of Pierre Alechinsky, Henri Michaux and Jackson Pollock, while maintaining a singular position within contemporary drawing practices.
Drawing from his background and knowledge as an art historian, he nourishes his practice through a dialogue between modern painting, primitive forms and subconscious imagery.
As noted by Bernard Noël, Trajman's painting is not constructed but enacted — an immediate inscription of thought through movement.
His work has been exhibited internationally and is included in public and private collections.
EXHIBITIONS
1994 — Campo, Antwerp
1992 — Gallery Dannenberg, New York
1991 — Gallery Hugo Godderis, De Panne
1990 — Gallery Michel Vokaer, Brussels
1989 — Gallery Sonia K., Lille
1989 — Culture House of Namur
1986 — Romi Goldmuntz Centrum, Antwerp
1985 — Métropole Hotel Gallery, Brussels
COLLECTIONS
Private Collections (Selection)
Romi Goldmuntz Centrum, Antwerp Fabrice Finkelstein, Miami
Madonna Louise Ciccone, New York Eric Mesdagh Edward Albee
Serge Goyens de Heusch, Brussels
Public Collections
Jewish Museum of Belgium, Brussels
Crédit Communal de Belgique, Brussels Jerusalem Museum of Modern Art, Jerusalem
Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels
Banque Degroof, Brussels Horta Museum, Brussels
Tel Aviv Museum of Art
FRAC Marseille
MAMAC Nice
Bibliography
Bernard Noël
Paul Trajman ou la main qui pense
Editions Ypsilon, 1994
Antonio Moyano (Préface de Gerard Prezsow) Conversation avec Paul Trajman
Editions Tandem, 2021
Selected Writings
Barbara Emerson - Jean Dubuffet - Bernard Noël - Michel Butor - Jo Justin - Antoine Emaz - Michel Dekerpel - Danièle Gillemon - Serge Goyens de Heusch - Gilbert Lascault Georges Meurant - Anita Nardon - Gérard Preszow - Elias Preszow - Jacques Sojcher - Yvon Tallandier - Freddy de Vree - Eddy Devolder
IMAGES
Portrait of Paul Trajman
Stéphane Mandelbaum
Shown in exhibitions dedicated to Stéphane Mandelbaum at Centre Pompidou and MMK Frankfurt.
Portrait of Paul Trajman
Marc Trivier
Photographic Portraits of Paul Trajman
Boris Lehman
FILMOGRAPHY
Encre sur Encre
Film by Sarah Blum
2009, 22 min
Comme un Torrent
Film by André Goldberg
1997, 6 min