Biography/Um Lauru
Laura Valentino is a visual artist based in Reykjavik, Iceland. She has recently returned to her first love, painting, after many years exploring alternative photographic processes, which she also approached in a painterly way. She draws her inspiration mainly from the power of the Icelandic landscape.
Laura earned a master of arts degree in 1980 from the University of California, Berkeley. She is a currently a member of the Association of Icelandic Artists (SÍM) and the Icelandic Printmakers Association (IPA), and was a founding member of the former Iceland Film Photography Association. She served on the studio committee of of IPA for 10 years and taught workshops in the gum bichromate process. She curated an exhibition of analog and alternative photography at Gallery Fold in Reykjavik in 2018. Her work has been shown both locally and abroad.
Artist Statement/Yfirlýsing
My work expresses both the power and vulnerability in my environment. My current series is part of an ongoing exploration of urban forestry. Haphazardly planted, their existence subject to harsh elements both natural and political, my trees are survivors. Utilizing the vibrantly pigmented medium of soft pastel and my characteristic painting style, a magic occurs which renders my trees defiant and (in my eyes) beautiful.
Selected Shows/Valdar sýningar
2022-23: Solander 250—Bréf frá Íslandi, Traveling show around Iceland.
2021: Living 2020, SÍM Gallery, Reykjavík, Iceland (solo exhibit).
2020: Altered Reality, Lightbox Photographic Gallery, Astoria, Oregon, USA.
2020: Icelandic Printmakers Association 50th Anniversary Show, Nordic House, Reykjavík, Iceland.
2019: I was here, International Pinhole Photography Exhibition, Clifford-Thames Gallery, London, UK.
2019: I Remember the Mountain, Reykjavik Photography Museum, Reykjavik, Iceland (solo exhibit).
2019: Greetings from Reykjavik, Galleria Joella, Turku, Finland.
2019: Listamaður Grafíkvina/Graphic Friends’ Artist 2019, IPA Gallery, Reykjavík, Iceland (solo exhibit).
2018: Andlit Jarðar/Earth Portraits, IPA Gallery, Reykjavík, Iceland (solo exhibit).
2018: Eitt andartak/One Moment, Gallerí Fold, Reykjavík, Iceland (curator).
2018: Coast to Coast, Gracefield Arts Centre, Dumfries, Scotland.
2017–2018: Technology & Touch, Traveling exhibit in San Francisco, Las Vegas and Reykjavík.
2017: Hrævareldar, Gallerí Nordens ljus, Stockholm, Sweden.
2016: Iceland–USA Exchange Show, Manhattan Graphics, NYC, NY.
2015: GraN (Grafik Nordica Triennial), Akureyri Art Museum, Akureyri, Iceland.
2015: AgX—Silver Gelatin Prints, Custom Photo Lab Gallery, Reykjavík, Iceland.
2014: Pushed & Pulled: Iceland Film Photography Association Debut Exhibition, IPA Gallery, Reykjavík.
2014: Icelandic Prints, Scandinavian Living Center, West Newton, MA, USA.
2014: Continental Drift: Printmakers Converge, Belmont Gallery of Art, Belmont, MA, USA.
2014: Iceland and Boston Printmakers, IPA Gallery, Reykjavík, Iceland.
2009: Archetypal Men, IPA Gallery, Reykjavík, Iceland (solo exhibit).