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Laura Fantini
is a contemporary artist best
known for her life-size hyper-realistic still life. She
lives between New York and Bologna.
Fantini's artworks are known for their intense details.
She works primarily in colored pencil. In her “Still
Lives”, pencils are her paint and paper is her canvas. Her work is smooth
and appears to be almost photographic at a first look. However, a closer
look reveals the intricate detail of it. From thousands upon
thousands of precise, distinct, cross-hatched pencil-strokes, Fantini
builds up rich tones. |
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Her art is defined by strong contrast values
and highly theatrical compositions with dramatic lighting
and abstract symbolic backgrounds.
“My flowers, seeds or leaves are more than mere objects. My
artworks do not only represent the reality of the “still
life objects” I paint, but also the unique and intimate
interpretation of emotions, memories and human
relationships. The essential elements of my artworks are
composition, drawing, contrasts and symbolism, but also
realism and simplicity. The settings I apply are modest and
minimalist: few objects can stand alone to make a complete
composition dominated by a critical use of shadows which
produces a dramatic staging effect.”
She was born in Bologna, Italy and graduated from the Liceo
Artistico and Accademia di Belle Arti in her hometown. In
1985 Laura Fantini won First Prize for Premio Culturale Panta Rei, Bologna. Her first
group show took place in Modena, Italy in 1992. Since then,
Ms. Fantini's art has exhibited nationally and
internationally and has been widely published and
documented. After graduating, she worked on commercial
illustrations and taught workshops on colored pencil
technique at the University Primo Levi in Bologna. In 1998,
one of her colored pencil artworks was featured in the
M.E.I.N. newsletter, published in California and
internationally distributed. In 2000, Laura Fantini was
invited to participate in a charity auction at Kutztown
University in Pennsylvania. In 2001, Ms. Fantini exhibited
for the first time in the U.S. in Soho, New York. In 2002,
she was selected for “Premio Arte” promoted by Arte, a
Mondadori publication. In 2003, Ms. Fantini was included in
the group exhibition “Proposte” at the Galleria Forni in
Bologna and had her first solo exhibition. From 2005 through
2009, Laura Fantini donated some of her paintings to the
Fall Auction/Party to benefit the New York based non-profit
organization Big Apple Greeter.
Since 2004,
Ms. Fantini has been collaborating with the Object Image
Gallery in Brooklyn, New York. In 2008, she was selected by
Profilo d’Arte - Banca Profilo among the most interesting
emerging Italian artists and exhibited at the Museo della
Permanente in Milan. Laura Fantini continues exhibiting in
Italy and New York. She was awarded First Prize for both the
First Annual Sylvia Glesmann Floral Exhibition and the Jane
Peterson Memorial Award at the Salmagundi Club in New York.
She also received an Honorable Mention at Gallery 364 in
Brooklyn in 2010. Ms. Fantini is a member of the Salmagundi
Club in New York and the Colored Pencil Society of America.
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