ARTIST LAURA FANTINI GUEST JUDGES AT GALLERY 364

Laura Fantini is a hyper-realistic artist who specializes in colored pencil still life. Her artwork is defined by strong contrast values and highly theatrical compositions with dramatic lighting. She was born in Bologna, Italy and graduated from the Liceo Artistico and Academy of Fine Arts of her hometown. In 1985 Laura Fantini won the 1st Prize for the 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 to a charity auction at Kutztown University in Pennsylvania. In 2001 Ms. Fantini exhibited for the first time in the US in Soho, New York. In 2002, she was selected for “Premio Arte” promoted by Arte, a Mondadori’s publication. In 2003 Ms. Fantini was included into 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 started 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 1st Prize for the “First Annual Sylvia Glesmann Floral Exhibition” and 1st Prize “Jane Peterson Memorial Award" at the Salmagundi Club in New York and 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.