I am currently based between Benlloc, Spain and Amsterdam, Netherlands. As an artist and individual I often consider myself an urban agriculturalist or a rural cosmopolite. I think with my hands while crafting with my brain. I meander between rural communities and contemporary cities, that’s where my work is at home. The intersections where these two realms meet constitute the soil from where my artistic practice grows. Taking shape through photography, video, installations, public art and performance.
My social practice is collaborative and participatory in nature, while principles of care and listening are core values of my work. Drawing from feminist, indigenous thought and rural knowledge, my practice addresses and mediates between dichotomies like human vs. nature, countryside vs. city, local vs. global, with the aim to deconstruct such distinctions created by Western scholarship in the first place. Notions of ‘making together’ are crucial to decentralize the artist ‘as the genius and unique creator’ and to foster a space for transformation were the act to create collectively is key.
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Laura Palau
Photographer
In late summer 2022 I successfully completed the Master’s program ‘Photography & Society’ at Royal Academy of Art The Hague (KABK), the Netherlands. A time that essentially contributed to the development and growth on a personal and professional level. With its emphasis on socially engaging themes and the social role of photography and art within society.
Fostering interdisciplinary approaches between art and science or design and sociology, my studies at Polytechnic University of Valencia, from where I successfully graduated in 2017, assisted me to set the foundation stones for my artistic practice. Completing my studies with the opening of my solo show Edits at Romà de la Calle Foundation I returned to Benlloc, the village I grew up in, to build up my own studio space situated within the local community. While living and working between the countryside and the city I presented my work in different exhibitions and events, among them PhotoEspaña, EACC, CCCC, among other institutions.
Being awarded the Habitat award for Las Bañistas granted me the possibility to develop the project further during an artist in residency program at GlogaAIR in Berlin, Germany. Which exposed me to a new and enriching cultural context, where I could extend my personal and artistic network in a vibrant art scene shaped by diverse influences and ideas of national and international artists, makers and thinkers.
Following my stay in Germany I went to Normandy, France, to produce a new work for the PALMA festival (a festival for music and visual arts in Caen). Cuando haga bueno juega fuera y, cuando haga malo, juega dentro, an interactive camera obscura realized with a local institution and adolescents from marginalized backgrounds. A severe accident and the begin of the pandemic forced me to stay in France for 8 months, leaving me with 18% permanent physical disability and a good command of French.
Laura Palau
Photographer
In late summer 2022 I successfully completed the Master’s program ‘Photography & Society’ at Royal Academy of Art The Hague (KABK), the Netherlands. A time that essentially contributed to the development and growth on a personal and professional level. With its emphasis on socially engaging themes and the social role of photography and art within society.
Fostering interdisciplinary approaches between art and science or design and sociology, my studies at Polytechnic University of Valencia, from where I successfully graduated in 2017, assisted me to set the foundation stones for my artistic practice. Completing my studies with the opening of my solo show Edits at Romà de la Calle Foundation I returned to Benlloc, the village I grew up in, to build up my own studio space situated within the local community. While living and working between the countryside and the city I presented my work in different exhibitions and events, among them PhotoEspaña, EACC, CCCC, among other institutions.
Being awarded the Habitat award for Las Bañistas granted me the possibility to develop the project further during an artist in residency program at GlogaAIR in Berlin, Germany. Which exposed me to a new and enriching cultural context, where I could extend my personal and artistic network in a vibrant art scene shaped by diverse influences and ideas of national and international artists, makers and thinkers.
Following my stay in Germany I went to Normandy, France, to produce a new work for the PALMA festival (a festival for music and visual arts in Caen). Cuando haga bueno juega fuera y, cuando haga malo, juega dentro, an interactive camera obscura realized with a local institution and adolescents from marginalized backgrounds. A severe accident and the begin of the pandemic forced me to stay in France for 8 months, leaving me with 18% permanent physical disability and a good command of French.
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I am currently based between Benlloc, Spain and Amsterdam, Netherlands. As an artist and individual I often consider myself an urban agriculturalist or a rural cosmopolite. I think with my hands while crafting with my brain. I meander between rural communities and contemporary cities, that’s where my work is at home. The intersections where these two realms meet constitute the soil from where my artistic practice grows. Taking shape through photography, video, installations, public art and performance.
My social practice is collaborative and participatory in nature, while principles of care and listening are core values of my work. Drawing from feminist, indigenous thought and rural knowledge, my practice addresses and mediates between dichotomies like human vs. nature, countryside vs. city, local vs. global, with the aim to deconstruct such distinctions created by Western scholarship in the first place. Notions of ‘making together’ are crucial to decentralize the artist ‘as the genius and unique creator’ and to foster a space for transformation were the act to create collectively is key.
RELATED ARTICLES
WORKS AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE
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Joseph BeuysArtistJoseph Beuys was born in 1921, in Krefeld, Germany. During his school years in Kleve, Beuys was exposed to the work of Achilles Moortgat, whose studio he often visited, and was inspired by the sculptures of Wilhelm Lehmbruck. (more…)
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Ines Doujak: Every Courageous Life Is A Song To The FutureSep 30 – Dec 17, 2023In the beginning of her book Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants Robin Wall Kimmerer recalls the story of the Skywoman, shared by the Indigenous peoples throughout the Great Lakes region in North America. In the legend, the falling Skywoman is being carried down by a goose and lands on the back of a turtle. Where she lands is only darkness, water and water animals. A muskrat gives its life in order to bring her a small handful of mud which she spreads across the shell of the turtle. (more…)
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Someone Is Getting RichApr 21, 2023 – Jan 7, 2024This exhibition explores the relationship between colonialism and the global financial system. Dutch financial innovations, but also people – bankers, investors and savers – played an essential role in financing colonial campaigns and slavery plantations. (more…)
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Butterfly! Arken’s CollectionFeb 10 – Dec 31, 2023Esben Weile Kjær is a luminous star on the Danish and international art scene. In the spring of 2023, he will curate ARKEN’s collection of Danish and international contemporary art. (more…)
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Ed Ruscha / Now ThenSep 10, 2023 – Jan 13, 2024The Museum of Modern Art presents Ed Ruscha / Now Then, the most comprehensive retrospective of the artist’s work ever staged, and his first solo exhibition at the Museum, from September 10, 2023, through January 13, 2024. Organized in close collaboration with the artist and mirroring his own cross-disciplinary approach, the exhibition will feature over 200 works, (more…)
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Luigi GhirriPhotographerLuigi Ghirri was born in 1943 in Scandiano, in the province of Reggio Emilia, Italy. He shares an interest for vernacular cultures with Walker Evans, by whom he affirms having been strongly influenced since 1977. In 1979, he shows extracts from the series “Breakfast the grass” and “Italian memories” at the Venice Biennale. (more…)
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A World In Common. Contemporary African PhotographyJul 6, 2023 – Jan 14, 2024Bringing together a group of artists from different generations, this exhibition will address how photography, film, audio, and more have been used to reimagine Africa’s diverse cultures and historical narratives. (more…)
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Nan GoldinPhotographerNan Goldin is an American photographer known for her deeply personal and candid portraiture. Goldin’s images act as a visual autobiography documenting herself and those closest to her. (more…)
