LAURA LÓPEZ BALZA

The drawings and paintings of Laura López Balza express a fervidness for the infinite richness and variety of what is observed, what is lived and what is imagined. In this selection of acrylic paintings on paper, as in all of Laura's work, vivid color is the point of departure for the artist to express her passionate embrace of nature, the landscape and everyday life, while also narrating her own life experiences and inner world. They are minimal stories - remembered, imagined, lived or idealized - that reflect desires, preferences or fears; but they are always a hymn to 'joie de vivre'. Laura paints to see, know and understand. Recognized for her intensity of chromatic interaction and a certain primitivism, her work pushes boundaries, while her gentle washes of pigment and chromatic vibration enable us to be transported into other worlds.

Laura López Balza graduated from the University of the Basque Country in Spain with a degree in Fine Arts. Between 2007 and 2009 she completed doctoral courses at the University of the Basque Country, and in 2016 she graduated with a degree in Philosophy from the University of Valladolid, Spain. Her artwork has been widely featured in exhibitions across Spain. Recent solo presentations include: El sueño de los dos pájaros (The Dream of the Two Birds) at Juan Silió Gallery, Santander; Un Paseo (A Walk), presented at CreaVA 22, Valladolid; Pintar para ver (Paint to see), La Gran gallery, Valladolid; and Mundos (Worlds) at Ó!Galeria, Porto.  Selected group exhibitions include ESTAMPA 2023 Art Fair with Galería Juan Silió, Madrid; Impulso (Impulse), DA2 Domus Artium, Salamanca; Green Minds, curated by mepaintsme; We are not alone/ No we are alone, The curators room, Barcelona; Still Alive, coordinated by Carmen Quijano for the ArteSantander Fair, Cantabria; Vert-Jaune-Rouge (Green-Yellow-Red), Instituto Cervantes (2018), Dakar (2016); and In/out, Patio Herreriano Museum, Valladolid.

Balza has been the recipient of numerous residencies and awards, the most recent of which include: Nautilus Lanzarote Residency in the Canary Islands; the Plastic Arts Award from the Government of Cantabria; the UBE acquisition award, MARTE fair, Castellón; and Finalist in the Casimiro Sainz National Competition, Cantabria, 2021.