Oree Holban (b. 1984) creates neon rock ‘n’ roll worlds where meditation halls blur into high school proms. Caught between the performative and the visual, he works across installation, painting, music, video, and VR – building playful, whimsical, colorful environments where visitors can move, reflect, or linger. In these spaces, he combines pop imagery with soft, childlike materials – plasticine, felt, cardboard – alongside vinyl stickers, neon signs, and wall-to-wall carpets.

Holban’s work explores the limbo of genders, love, nostalgia, and the glossy contrasts of the 1950s: its optimism and shadows, its innocent charm and dangerous desire. For him, art is both a gift and a flirtation – a gesture of giving shaped by meditation, queerness, and sentimental love songs.

Holban reflects on how art can reconnect us with reality rather than escape it. Through lucid fantasies, he bridges dualities – adult and child, male and female, excitement and calm. In a fast-paced world, he searches for balance: a place where nostalgia releases its grip and solitude meets intimacy. His gaze toward the past, anchored by meditation practice and the search beyond identity, grounds him in the present while dreaming forward – toward the 2050s, aesthetically, ethically, and spiritually.

He holds an MFA from UCSB, studied painting at RISD, and earned a BFA from Bezalel. His work has been supported by the Plumas Foundation, the Fulbright Program, Artis, the Ostrovsky Family Foundation, the Ilana Elovic-Bezalel Prize, and more.