Today we’d like to introduce you to Laurence de Valmy.
Hi Laurence, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I am an artist and art writer. In 2013, I moved from France to the US and after 8 years on the northeast coast, we relocated last summer to San Diego.
I create artworks revisiting art history and connecting art and social media. I use painting as a main medium and recently I started to create phygital artworks, combining physical and digital components. I find it fascinating to see how technology impacts our society and how it offers new opportunities as well as challenges.
As for the writing, I contribute to different art publications and publish my own art blog The Curious Frenchy. Since more and more artist friends were asking about writing tips, I’ve started to offer my services to write artists’ bio, statements, or press releases.
My artwork is represented by different art galleries located in New York, London or Paris.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I started my professional art career about 6 years ago. Prior to that, I had an art practice along with a career in the corporate world. The challenges were to learn a new job in a new country, in a highly competitive industry with no network.
My previous career taught me to look for opportunities and I love to connect with people. So, I used social media to connect with artists I liked, I attended art events, and read a lot… from books to articles. It takes a lot of work and some lucky encounters to make progress. I’ve had the chance to meet several good fairies who have helped me along the way.
I was also lucky to pinpoint a subject matter that was timely and gained some interest. I’m still learning every day and it’s something I like about this career.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
My work revisits art history and I have created a series that imagines what famous artists would have posted on Instagram or TikTok if it had always existed. This series is an opportunity to share about the stories behind a specific artwork, an artist and ponder on the place of social media for artists today. Part of my work is the research about the stories and part is the painting in itself.
More recently, I’ve been working on a text-based series exploring the place of hashtags in our communication.
I’m very honored to have the chance to exhibit along with some famous artists, such as Andy Warhol during the BUNTE exhibition at the Museum of Urban and Contemporary Art of Munich. It was also quite fun to be featured on TV in the HBO series The Undoing even for only a few seconds ;-).
My work had been displayed in a public art installation in New Jersey and I was very happy to touch a new public thanks to that project.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
Success can come in many ways. It’s a combination of success in your art practice, getting recognition from your peers, and commercial success. Being a fan of art history, I’m fascinated by how relative success can be.
Alfred Stevens was an immensely successful painter both in terms of critical acclaim as well as great success with collectors. At the same period of time, the impressionists were mocked by the critics and had few supporters. Nowadays, few people know the name of Stevens when everybody knows Monet or Van Gogh.
As for me, the best reward is to have collectors who support my work and to receive positive reviews from art professionals that I look up to. Success is also simply the possibility to continue doing what I love and grow along the way.
Contact Info:
- Email: ldevalmy@gmail.com
- Website: https://www.laurencedevalmy.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laurencedevalmy/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/laurencedevalmy/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurencedevalmy
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2BVnOV2TiyXp8HSVI9riqw
- Other: https://thecuriousfrenchy.wordpress.com/
