LAURA LETINSKY

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.


Born 1962, Canada

SELECTED SOLO AND TWO PERSON EXHIBITIONS
2010
Survey Exhibition, Winnipeg Art Gallery

2009
James Hyman Gallery, 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
2008
Art Miami, Midtown Miami Art District, Miami, FL
Paris Photo, Carrousel du Louvre, Paris France

2008
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

1987
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

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

SELECTED AWARDS AND HONORS
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 PUBLICATIONS AND CATALOGS
2006
Border Crossings, Winnipeg, Canada
Look Now! Monaco Reps, New York
Richard Koenig House, R. Wright Auction House

2006
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
Higher Education
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
Venus 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, Londo (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

CRITICAL WRITINGS
1999
"Self-Exposure(s): The Photographs of Tabata-San," Public Culture, Spring

1997
"On Books," ed., E.J. Bellocq, Nobuyoshi Araki, Nan Goldin, and Aura Rosenberg, New Art
Examiner, May
Graduating Master of Fine Arts Student Exhibition, Smart Museum of Fine Arts, Chicago
1996
Curatorial Statement, "What's Love Got To Do With It?", Randolph Street Gallery, Chicago

SELECTED REVIEWS AND ARTICLES
2007
Toronto Globe and Mail, Gallery Going, March 31
Toronto Star, Visual Arts Section, March 29

2006
La Jolla Times
CBC Radio

2005
Time Out, Chicago edition
"Studio City," Chicago magazine
Photo Pictorial, Hong Kong
CBC Online Radio 3

2004
Mouth to Mouth, interview
"On Edge," House and Garden, April/May
New Yorker
Grace Gluck review for the New York Times
University of Chicago Alumni Magazine
Stephen Frailey, "Laura Letinsky: Renaissance Society," Artforum, January
University of Chicago Chronicle
Interview with Charlotte Cotton, Contemporary Magazine, March
"50 Top Previews: Laura Letinsky at the Renaissance Society," New York Times Sunday
Magazine
2003
Vince Alletti, "Voice Choice," Village Voice, December 3
Polly Ullrich, "Laura Letinsky: Monique Meloche Gallery, Chicago," Frieze, October 2002
Grace Glueck, Review of Morning, and Melancholia at Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York Times,
March 8 2001
Vick Goldberg, "Size Matters," New York Times, August 5 2000
Susan Snodgrass, "Laura Letinsky at Carol Ehlers," Art in America, December 1999
Lynne Tilman, "Nude Notes," Art On Paper, January/February, Vol. 3, No. 3,
1998
Nico Israel, "Guy McIntyre Gallery," Artforum, Summer
Elizabeth Anderson, "Coupling Exhibition," Parachute, Summer
Grace Glueck, Guy McIntyre Gallery, New York Times, January 23
1997 Interview with Ken Rockburn, "Venus Inferred," The Arts Network on Canadian Broadcast
Company Radio
Interview with Sandra Abma, "Venus Inferred," The Arts Network on Canadian Broadcast
Company Radio
1994 "Intimate Stages at Presentation House," The Vancouver Sun, October 1
1993 Lisa Marks, "Intimate Stages at Optica Gallery," Backflash Magazine, Montréal, Summer
1991 "Intimate Stages", Winnipeg Free Press, September 28
1987 "A Multiplicity of Voices", Border Crossings, June

EDUCATION
1991 M.F.A. Photography, Yale University School of Art
1986 Mentor Program, Manitoba Artists for Women's Art, Winnipeg
1986 B.F.A. Photography, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg

TEACHING EXPERIENCE
1994-present Professor and Chair, Department of Visual Arts, University of Chicago
1999 Visiting Artist, Yale-Norfolk Summer Art Program, Yale University School of Art
1993-1994 Visiting Assistant Professor, University of Houston
Instructor, Yale-Norfolk Summer Art Program, Yale University School of Art
1993 Instructor, Yale-Norfolk Summer Art Program, Yale University School of Art
Lecturer, University of Washington, Seattle
1992 Instructor, Bennington College, VT

SELECTED PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
2007 Royal Canadian Academy of Arts
Lecturer, Microsoft Art Collection Artist Lecture Series
2006 Panelist, "Art Photography Now," Tate Modern, London
Visiting Artist, Columbia College; Art Institute of Chicago
Reader, University of Chicago Press, IL
2005 Visiting Artist, UCLA Photography Department
2004 Participant, "Living Room," Television Pilot Project
Lecturer, The Cleveland Museum of Art
Visiting Artist, Art Institute of Chicago, IL; Columbia College, IL; School of the Visual Arts, New
York
2003 Visiting Artist, Rhode Island School of Design
2002 Visiting Artist, Yale School of Art; Northwestern University; University of Manitoba; University of
Chicago
Panelist, Gerhard Richter Exhibition, The Art Institute of Chicago

SELECTED PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES (CONTINUED)
2002 Discussant, "Love and Pathology," Odyssey with Gretchen Helfridge, WBEZ
Artist, Interview, EGG, PBS
2001 Panelist, Erotikon Conference, University of Chicago
Lecturer, "The Model Wife," The Art Institute of Chicago
2000 Visiting Artist, Columbia College, IL; School of the Art Institute of Chicago; Yale School of Art
Reader, University of Chicago Press; Oxford University Press
1999 "Artist's Tour: Collectors Collect Contemporary," Institute for Contemporary Art, Boston
1998 Panelist, Chicago Photographic Workshop
Reader, University of Chicago Press
1997 Visiting Artist, University of Ottawa; School of the Art Institute of Chicago; Milwaukee Art Institute
Exhibitions Committee (1995-97), Board Member (1995-97), Randolph Street Gallery, Chicago
1997 Reader, University of Chicago Press
1996 Visiting Artist, Gallery 400, University of Chicago; School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Panelist, "Don't Look Now," Society for Photographic Education Conference, Los Angeles
Co-Curator, "What's Love Got to Do With It?" Randolph Street Gallery, Chicago
Interview, "What's Love Got to Do With It?" WBEZ
1995 Guest Critic, University of Chicago
Panelist, "Do You Want to Know My Secret?" N.A.M.E. Gallery, Chicago
1994 Visiting Artist, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg
1991 Visiting Artist, CUNY Purchase; University of Manitoba, Winnipeg
1989 Co-President, MAWA, Winnipeg