About the Artist
Iceland-based artist Laura Valentino works with alternative photographic processes, printmaking, pastel painting, and encaustic to create expressive pieces highlighting the power and vulnerability of her environment.
Born in the US in 1955, she earned her MA at UC Berkeley, came to Iceland in 1988 and has lived in downtown Reykjavik ever since. Laura gets her inspiration from her natural and urban surroundings, looking for the unusual in everyday things for those desiring a sense of wonder in their lives. She moves between various mediums and processes with her signature mark-making and graphic style that has its roots in painting.
Laura's work has been widely shown locally and abroad. She is a member of the Association of Icelandic Visual Artists, The Icelandic Printmakers Association, and The Icelandic Contemporary Photography Association. She has curated an exhibition of alternative and analogue processes and has taught courses in gum bichromate photography.
Solo Exhibits
2026: Urban Trees, Hannesarholt, Reykjavik, Iceland.
2021: Living 2020, SÍM Gallery, Reykjavík, Iceland.
2019: I Remember the Mountain, Reykjavik Photography Museum, Reykjavik, Iceland.
2019: Listamaður Grafíkvina/Printmaker of the Year, IPA Gallery, Reykjavík, Iceland.
2018: Andlit Jarðar/Earth Portraits, IPA Gallery, Reykjavík, Iceland.
2009: Archetypal Men, IPA Gallery, Reykjavík, Iceland.
Juried & Group Exhibits
2025: Current Currents, Phenomenon Gallery, Reykjavik, Iceland.
2024: Artists at Work, Phenomenon Gallery, Reykjavik, Iceland.
2022: Torg Listamessa, Korpúlfsstaðir, Reykjavik, Iceland.
2022-25: Solander 250—Bréf frá Íslandi, Traveling exhibit Iceland/Sweden.
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: Greetings from Reykjavik, Galleria Joella, Turku, Finland.
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 San Francisco, Las Vegas and Reykjavík, USA / Iceland.
2017: Hrævareldar, Gallerí Nordens ljus, Stockholm, Sweden.
2016: Iceland–USA Exchange Show, Manhattan Graphics, NYC, NY, USA.
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, Iceland.
2014: Icelandic Prints, Scandinavian Living Center, West Newton, MA, USA.
2014: Continental Drift: Printmakers Converge, Belmont Gallery of Art, Belmont, MA, USA.
Purchases, Grants, Publications
2023: Piteå Kunsthall , purchase of work from the exhibition Solander 250: Letters from Iceland.
2021: Diffusion X, Artfully Crafted Photography (journal), One Twelve Publishing, Portland, Oregon, USA.
2019: Myndstef (The Icelandic Visual Art Copyright Association), Educational Grant for photogravure course at Lux Darkroom, London, UK.
2019: Kulturefunden Island–Finland, Travel grant for group exhibit at Galleria Joella, Turku, Finland.
2018: Icelandic Art Center, Travel Grant for group exhibit Technology & Touch, 688 Gallery, San Francisco, USA.
2017: Muggur Residence Grant for group exhibit Technology & Touch at 688 Gallery, San Francisco, USA.
2005: Gisp! Nían, publication from the exhibit Nían Myndasögumessan at Reykjavík Art Museum, Hafnarhús, Reykjavík, Iceland.