Laura Letinsky's elegiac photographs of detritus on a table-top are both elegantly prosaic and art historically resonant in their reference to Dutch vanitas still life painting of the Seventeenth Century.
This dialogue with painting is an important aspect Letinsky's photographs. As the artist has explained:
"It's so important for me that the photographs hover between being painterly - in the sense of light, colour, composition and plasticity - and being insistently photographic. They're photographs on photographic paper; they're made with the camera, they aren't digital effects. I'm really interested in the plasticity of photography and the way one reads it - like 'How can that be possible? That must be digital!' But no, it's not digital. Photography is like painting; it's an incredibly plastic medium."
Ranging from domestic setting to studio staging, Letinsky's still lifes are both everyday and infused with significance. Lyrical and formal, the subjects are dissolved by light, often set off against white walls and table cloths.
Education:
1991
M.F.A. Photography, Yale University School of Art
1986
Mentor Program, Manitoba Artists for Women's Art, Winnipeg
B.F.A. Photography, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg
Selected Solo & Two-Person Exhibitions:
2010
Survey Exhibition, Winnipeg Art Gallery
2009
Laura Letinsky. Likeness. James Hyman Photography, London
Brancolini Grimaldi Arte Contemporanea, Rome
2008
Made In Chicago, Chicago Cultural Center
To Say It Isn't So, Paul Kusseneers Gallery, Antwerp, Belgium
2007
To Say It Isn't So, Yancey Richardson Gallery, New York
Hardly More Than Ever, Brancolini Grimaldi Gallery, Rome
To Say It Isn't So, Monique Meloche Gallery, Chicago
Somewhere, Somewhere, Stephen Bulger Gallery, Toronto
2006
Hardly More Than Ever, Michael Sturm Gallery, Stuttgart, Germany
Hardly More Than Ever, Joseph Bellows Gallery, La Jolla CA
Somewhere, Somewhere, James Harris Gallery, Seattle, WA
Somewhere, Somewhere, Oakville Galleries, Oakville, ONT
2005
Now Again, Gallerie Kusseneers, Antwerp, Belgium
Somewhere, Somewhere, Monique Meloche Gallery, Chicago
2004
Hardly More Than Ever, The Renaissance Society, Chicago
Hardly More Than Ever, Stephen Bulger Gallery, Toronto
Hardly More Than Ever, Robert Klein Gallery, Boston
Aftermath: Still-life photographs by Laura Letinsky, Cleveland Museum of Art
2003
I did not remember I had forgotten, Shine Gallery, London
I did not remember I had forgotten, Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York
I did not remember I had forgotten, Monique Meloche Gallery, Chicago
Morning, and Melancholia, Iowa University Gallery
2002
Morning, and Melancholia, Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York
Venus Inferred-Self Portraits, Stephen Bulger Gallery, Toronto
Morning, and Melancholia, Copia: American Academy of Food and Wine, Napa, CA
2001
Laura Letinsky, Vox Gallery, Montréal, Québec
2000
Morning, and Melancholia, Carol Ehlers Gallery, Chicago
Venus Inferred, Bishop's University, Québec
1998
Venus Inferred, Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography (Touring), Ottawa, Ontario
1997
Coupling, Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago
1995
Venus Inferred, The Print Club, Philadelphia
Venus Inferred, Arts Gallery, Minneapolis
1994
Intimate Stages, Presentation House, Vancouver, British Columbia
Venus Inferred, Lawndale Art and Performance Center, Houston
1993
Intimate Stages, Photographers' Gallery, Saskatoon, SASK
Intimate Stages, Le Mois de la Photo, Optica Gallery, Montréal
1992
Intimate Stages, Exit Gallery, University of Nevada, Reno
Intimate Stages, Florida International University, Miami
1991
Intimate Stages, Floating Gallery, Winnipeg
1985
Recent Work, Floating Gallery, Winnipeg
Selected Group Exhibitions:
2010
Claus Goedicke, Evelyn Hofer und Laura Letinsky 'still', Gallerie M Bochum, Germany
2008
Art Miami, Midtown Miami Art District, Miami, FL
Paris Photo, Carrousel du Louvre, Paris France
Stilles Leben: Triennale der Photographie in Hamburg, Found Galerie, Hamburg
2007
Interiority, Hales Gallery, London
Allusive Moments, Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco
(In)habitations," Judy Ann Goldman Fine Art, Boston
Internationale FOTO Triennale, Esslingen, Germany
Photography Now, Wright State University
Still Life, Pulliam Deffenbaugh Gallery, Portland
Room x Room, James Harris Gallery, Seattle
2006
Michael Hoppen Contemporary, London
Gimme Shelter, Shelter Island, New York
Home of the Free, Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago
Taken for Looks, Southeast Museum of Photograph, Daytona
15th Anniversary Exhibition, The Print Center, Philadelphia
Time's Arrow: Twelve Random Thoughts on Beauty, Rotunda Gallery, Brooklyn
Taken for Looks, Southeast Museum of Photography, Daytona Beach
2005
Crossings: 5 Artist Cultural Exchange, Chicago Cultural Center
Crossings: 5 Artist Cultural Exchange, Museum of Fine Art, Kaohsiumg, Taiwan
Ripe for Picking, Jim Kemper Fine Art, New York
Epilogue, Jane Jackson Gallery, Atlanta
About Place, Galería Pilar Parra & Romero, Madrid
2004
About Face: Photographic Portraits from the Collection, The Art Institute of Chicago
Acting Out, University of Iowa, Neuberger Museum of Art, New York
Truth Matters, Houston Center of Photography, Houston
Self-Exposed, Stephen Daiter Gallery, Chicago
DOMICILE, Center for Contemporary Art, Seattle
About Face, Benise Bibro Gallery, New York
Collecting: A Thirtieth Anniversary Celebration, Smart Museum, Chicago
Dust to Dust, University of Essex, England
Beyond Compare: Woman Photographs on Beauty, BCE, Toronto, Vancouver, Montréal, Amsterdam, Portugal (Touring)
2003
Locating Intimacy, San Francisco Cameraworks
Feminine Persuasion, Kinsey Institute, University of Indiana
2002
Home Stories, Winnipeg Art Gallery
2001
Subjects/Objects, Art Institute of Chicago
The Power of Reflection, Saidye Bronfman Center, Montréal
2000
Crossing the Line, Art Institute of Chicago
Voyeurism, Catherine Edelman, Chicago
1999
L'image complice, Nederlands Foto Instituut, Rotterdam, Brussels, Casino, Chicago
Starry Nights, Carol Ehlers Gallery, Chicago
Affinities, Sadiey Broffman Museum, Montréal
Domesticated, Worcester Museum, Massachusetts
1998
Surface: Contemporary Photographic Practice, London
1997
University of Chicago Faculty Exhibition, SMART Gallery, Chicago
1996
Kiss This, Focal Point Gallery, Essex, England
1995
Undertow, NAME Gallery, Chicago
Versimilitudes and the Utility of Doubt, White Columns Gallery, New York
The Body Photographic, The Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans
1994
New Acquisitions, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
1993
Intimate Stages, Midtown Y, New York
1992
Exhibition of Photography, The Berkshire Museum, Pittsfield, Massachusetts
1991
The Pleasures and Terrors of Domestic Comfort, Museum of Modern Art, New York
1990
Latent Images, Gallery 44, Toronto
1987
Merchants of Love, SAW Gallery, Ottawa
Multiplicities Ukrainian Cultural Center, Winnipeg, MB
A Multiplicity of Voices, 13 Women Artists, Plug In Art Gallery, Winnipeg
1986
Environments and Situations, Juried Exhibition, Janet Ian Cameron Gallery, Winnipeg
Selected publications:
2010
Laura Letinsky, After All, Damiani; Mul edition (6 Sep 2010)
2006
Border Crossings, Winnipeg, Canada
Look Now! Monaco Reps, New York
Richard Koenig House, R. Wright Auction House
Gourmet Magazine, August
Still-Life, Iris Publications, Stoke-on-Trent, UK
2005
Now Again, Gallerie Kusseneers, Antwerp, Belgium (DAP)
Art and Photography, ed., Susan Bright, Thames and Hudson, London
Invented Melodrama in Contemporary Photography, UIMA and The Neuberger Museum of Art
2004
Hardly More Than Ever, The Renaissance Society, Chicago
Criticizing Photographs: An Introduction to Understanding Images, Terry Barrett, McGraw-Hill
Chicago Photographs: From the LaSalle Bank Photography Collection, LaSalle Bank
Contemporary Art Photography, ed. Charlotte Cotton, London (Thames and Hudson)
2003
Eating Architecture, ed., Jamie Horowitz and Pauletter Singley, Cambridge (MIT Press)
Feminine Persuasions, Bloomington, Indiana (Phaidon Press)
2002
Blink: 100 Contemporary Photographs, London (Phaidon Press)
2000 Inferred, ed., Lauren Berlant, (University of Chicago Press)
Intimacy, ed., Lauren Berlant, Chicago (University of Chicago Press)
1999
Voyeur, ed., Steven Diamond, New York (Harper Collins Border Crossings)
1997
Coupling, ed., Lynne Tilman, Chicago Museum of Contemporary Photography
Surface: Contemporary Photographic Practice, London (Booth Clibborn Publishers)
1996
Exploring Color Photography, 3rd Edition, ed., Robert Hirsch, Madision, WI (Brown and Benchmark Publishers)
1995
The Body Photographic, Exhibition Catalogue, The Contemporary Art Center, New Orleans
Verisimilitudes and the Utility of Doubt, ed., Bill Arning and Gregory Crewdson, White Columns
1994
Parallelogramme, Vol. 20, No. 2 and Vol. 19, No. 2
1989
The World Going On Without Us, Border Crossings, January
1987
A Multiplicity of Voices, Exhibition Catalogue, Winnipeg, Plug In Art Gallery
Contemporary Art in Manitoba, Exhibition Catalogue, Winnipeg Art Gallery
Selected Awards:
2003
Richard Driehaus Foundation Award, Chicago
2002
Illinois Arts Council Grant
2001
Anonymous Was A Woman, New York
2000
Guggenheim Fellowship Award, Photography
1998
Canada Council Mid-Career Grant for Visual Artists, Photography
1997
Community Arts Assistance Program, Department of Cultural Affairs, Chicago Illinois Arts Council, Photography Fellowship Finalist
1994
Canada Council "B" Grant for Visual Artists, Photography
1993
The Barbara Spohr Endowment Award for Excellence in Photography, Banff Center for the Arts
1992
The Banff Program Photography Residency
Canada Council "B" Grant for Visual Artists, Photography
1991
Yale School of Art George Sakier Award for Excellence in Photography
1990
Manitoba Arts Council Award
1989
Manitoba Arts Council Project Grant
Lila Wallace Acheson Readers Digest Award
Winnipeg Arts Advisory Council Grant
1988-7
Manitoba Arts Council Visual Arts Grant
Manitoba Arts Council Project Grant
Selected Collections:
Amon Carter Museum, Ft. Worth
Art Institute of Chicago
Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography
Cleveland Museum of Art
Jersey City Museum
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago
Museum of Fine Art, Houston
Portage la Prairie Art Center
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Yale University Art Gallery
Yale University Sterling Library
Winnipeg Art Gallery
Air Canada
Capital Group Collection, Los Angeles
Canada Council Visual Artbank
LaSalle Bank Photography Collection
Manitoba Arts Council Visual Artbank
Microsoft Art Collection, Seattle