Biography

LAURA NOVA is a multi-disciplinary artist working in sculpture, video, sound, performance and installation. The dynamics of human interaction are at the center of her current work, which explores the impact of the environment on human relationships through staged physical challenges. Her work has been included in exhibitions nationally and internationally, most notably the ICI exhibition Situation Comedy: Humor in Recent Art and Limited Run at Real Art Ways for which she received a National Performance Network Grant. She is a recent recipient of the Fund for Creative Communities and the Manhattan Community Arts Fund Grant, these funds were distributed by the LMCC to produce the public work The Crescendo Project. She participated in several artist residencies including the Artist in the Marketplace (AIM) at the Bronx Museum of Art, the Henry Street Settlement, LMCC Workspace and Vermont Studio Center. She received her B.F.A. and B.A. in art and history from Cornell University and M.F.A. from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago as a Jacob Javits Fellow. She lived and worked in London as a Rotary International Scholar and completed Associate Research at Goldsmiths College. Nova is an Assistant Professor in the Creative Art and Technology program at Bloomfield College in Bloomfield, New Jersey. She also enjoys cooking, traveling, competing in marathons and triathlons and is training for her second Ironman in Lake Placid, New York on July 24, 2011. She currently lives and works on the Lower East Side of New York City.
Education:
2001 – 2002 Goldsmiths College, University of London, UK, Research Associate.
1998 – 2001 The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, M.F.A.
1991 – 1996 Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, B.F.A. and B.A.
Selected Exhibitions:
2010
Soft and Hard, Young Projects Gallery, Los Angeles, CA.
Drama for Life Sex ACTually festival, Goethe Institute, Joburg, South Africa.
Step Up, Solo Exhibition, Real Art Ways, Hartford, CT.
2009
Art In Odd Places: Sign, 14th Street, New York, NY.
The Crescendo Project, Public Commission, Riverside Park, New York, NY.
Substation Gallery, Solo Exhibition, Wits School of the Arts, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Never Late Than Better, EFA Space, New York, NY.
2008
One Minute Film and Video Festival, Aarau, Switzerland.
Without Borders, Contemporary Art Festival, University of Maine, Orono, ME.
Kosher Film Festival, Sinai Temple, LA Jewish Film Festival, Los Angeles, CA.
The Downtown Dinner, LMCC Benefit Auction, NY.
2007
Hanged, Drawn and Quartered, Peter Fingestin Gallery, Pace University, NY.
SELF 2.0, VertexList, Brooklyn, NY.
The Downtown Dinner, LMCC Benefit Auction, NY.
LMCC, Open Studios, 120 Broadway, New York, NY.
Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale, FL.
Salina Art Center, Salina, KS.
Renegades, Exit Art, New York, NY.
2006
Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, IL.
MacKenzie Art Gallery, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.
RXArt Ball, Benefit Auction, New York, NY.
Wandering, Makor/92nd Street Y, New York, NY.
AIR Select, Henry Street Settlement, New York, NY.
Neo-Sincerity, Apex Art Gallery, New York, NY.
2005 – 2007
Situation Comedy, Independent Curators International, New York, NY.
2005
The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu, HI.
Carriage House, Islip Art Museum, Long Island, NY.
Siggraph, Los Angeles Convention Center, CA.
Prayingproject, Exit Art, New York, NY.
Studious, Dish Gallery, New York, NY.
AIR, Henry Street Settlement, New York, NY.
Group Exhibition, Schaffler Gallery, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn NY.
2003
Artist-in-the-Market-Place, The Bronx Museum of Art, NY.
Urban and Suburban Stories, VTO Gallery, London, UK.
2002
British Consulate Benefit Auction for Sloane-Kettering Hospital, NY.
Postgraduate Exhibition, Goldsmiths College, London, UK.
2001
MFA Thesis Exhibition, Gallery 2, Chicago, IL.
2000
Multiples, NFA Space, Chicago, IL.
Judging a book by its cover, The Spertus Museum, Chicago, IL.
Group Show, Gallery 2, Chicago, IL.
Earth Moving, Ground Breaking, Monk Parakeet, Chicago, IL.
1999
Dusk, Center on Contemporary Art, Seattle, WA.
Group Show, Gallery 2, Chicago, IL.
Art Under Canvas, Encircling the Circus, Gallery 2, Chicago, IL.
1998
The Artists of Arad: Celebrating Israel at 50, Mizel Museum, Denver, CO.
1997
Arad Arts Project, Van Leer Institute, Jerusalem, Israel.
Arad Arts Project, Arta Gallery, Tel-Aviv, Israel.
Arad Arts Project, Arad Museum, Israel.
1996
Rising Stars, Chase/Freedman Gallery, West Hartford, CT.
Residencies, Grants and Awards:
2011
Governor’s Island Artist Residency, LMCC Swing Space, New York, NY.
2010
National Performance Network Artist Residency, Real Art Ways, Hartford, CT.
Faculty Research Grant, Bloomfield College.
2009
Manhattan Community Arts Fund Grant.
The Fund For Creative Communities.
Visiting Artist, Wits School of the Arts, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Vermont Studio Center, Artist Residency Program, Johnson, VT.
Artist-in-Residence, Visual Studies Workshop, Rochester, NY.
2008
Open Art Residency, Eretria, Greece.
2008 – 2009
Faculty Research Grant, Bloomfield College.
2007 – 2008
Faculty Research Grant, Bloomfield College.
2006 – 2007
LMCC World Views Artist Residency.
2006
Artist-in-Residence, Makor Center of the 92nd Street Y.
2005
Met Life Artist-in-Residence, P.S. 42.
A.I.R. Workspace Program, The Henry Street Settlement.
2003
Artist-in-the-Market-Place, The Bronx Museum of Art.
Nominated for the Rema Hort Mann Foundation Grant.
2001 – 2002
Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship in London.
1998 – 2001
Jacob K. Javits Fellowship.
The School of the Art Institute Graduate Art Scholarship.
The Posey Foundation Graduate Art Scholarship.
1997
Artist-in-Residence, Arad Arts Project, Arad, Israel.
Beit Nefesh/Soul Cage, Private Commission, Temed Park, The Negev, Israel.
1996
Charles Goodwin Sands Memorial Medal, thesis prize, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.
Bibliography:
“Limited Run,” Exhibition Catalogue, Real Art Ways, Hartford, CT, 2010.
“Limited Run is an Exercise in Interaction,” Roger Catlin, The Hartford Courant, May 20, 2010, p. 18.
“Heard on the Run,” Running Times, June 2010, p. 10.
“Riverside Park Runners Get a ‘Hallelujah,’” Bergen, Brigid, WNYC, September 26, 2009.
“2009 MCAF Grantee Laura Nova Presents Crescendo,” Around Town, LMCC.
“Openart Residency at the Island of Dreams,” Cheapart Gallery, Eretria, Greece, 2008.
“Lighten Up: ‘Situation Comedy’: Humor in Recent Art, Demuth, Gary, Salina Journal,Arts section: D1 – D3, January 26, 2007.
“Canvassing for Laugh,” “Thorson, Alice, Kansas City Star, Visual Arts section: F7, January 1, 2007.
“Late-night humor in Works of Art,” Anderson, Jack, Regina Leader-Post, Opinion section:A7, November 1, 2006.
“Mick Liked Us, You Should Too, Art Gallery Says,” CBC News, Entertainment Section, October 10, 2006.
“Exhibit Challenges Notion of Stuffy, Black-Clad Artist,” Roberts, Lorne, Free Press, Entertainment section: D3, August 3, 2006.
“Laughable Art,” Pauch-Nolin, Kristen, Upton, Arts Section: 19, June 29, 2006.
“Sight Gags: Winnipeg Art Gallery touring exhibition takes aim at the notion that art isn’t funny,” Morley Walker, Winnipeg Free Press, June 10, 2006.
“Winnipeg Art Gallery Exhibition Features Humor in Art,” , April 4, 2006.
“Art of Humor Shines Through ‘Situation Comedy,’ Hawkins, Margaret, Chicago Sun-Times, March 3, 2006.
“Neo Sincerity: The Difference Between the Comic and the Cosmic is a Single Letter,” Holland Carter, The New York Times, March 31, 2006.
“Artists Making Fun of Artists,” Jenn Zimmerman, The Columbia Chronicle, March 14, 2006.
“Manitoba: Situation Comedy: Humor in Recent Art,” Karlinsky, Amy, Galleries West, March 2006.
“What’s So Funny at the Cultural Center?,” Sondak, Justin, Chicagoist, Art/Comedy Section, February 17, 2006.
“Funny Ha Ha,” Michael Workman, Newcity Chicago, February 7, 2006.
“Artist Make Serious Points in ‘Situation Comedy’ Exhibition,” Davenport, Misha, Chicago Sun Times, Showcase section: 48, February 3, 2006.
“Everyone’s a Comedian,” Marcia Morse, Honolulu Weekly, November 9, 2005.
“Artistas y comediantes en el contemporary museum de Honolulu,” Lapiz 218, November, 2005.
“Situation Comedy,” Tema Celeste, News & Around section: 103, November 2005.
“Remember Laughter?,” Nadine Kam, Star Bulletin, Features section, September 14, 2005.
“Situation Comedy,” DR, Artforum, Preview section: 142, September 2005.
“Humor in Recent Art,” Art In America, Annual Guide Museum Preview section: 35, 2005.
“Situation Comedy: Humor in Recent Art,” Independent Curators International, New York, NY, 2005.
“Prayingproject,” DVD, Exit Art, New York, NY, 2005.
“Statements and Strategies: Young Artists Negotiate Their Entry Into the Gallery Scene,” Market Share, Karen Rosenberg, The Village Voice, August 22, 2003.
“A Mix of Works in the Bronx,” Ken Johnson, The New York Times, August 15, 2003.
“Art fragments from the big apple: Aim 23 The Bronx Museum of the Arts,” Brian Boucher, Flash Art International, n° 232 October 2003.
“Artist-in-the-Market-Place,” The Bronx Museum of Art, summer 2003.
“Goldsmiths 2002,” Exhibition Catalogue, Summer 2002.
“Dept.,” MFA Exhibition Catalogue, Essay by Mary Jane Jacob, 2001.
“Judging the Book by Its Cover,” Exhibition Catalogue, Spertus Museum.
“On Location: Monk Parakeet,” Exhibition Catalogue, Spring 2000.
“Dusk at COCA,” K. Hess, The Daily, November 18, 1999.
“Dusk reveals somber theme with much wit,” Regina Hackett, What’s Happening, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Friday, November 5, 1999, p. 20.
“Dusk,” , December ‘99/January 2000, p.26.
“Avant-garde Reminders,” The Denver Post, Thursday, June 25, 1998, p. 5E.
“Arad Arts Project,” artifacts, Mizel Museum, Vol. 13, No. 3, Spring 1998, p. 2.
“Arad,” Maariv, May 28, 1997, p. 17.
“Arad Arts Project,” The Jerusalem Post, Friday, June 20, 1997, Vol. 5, No. 176, p. 6.
“Go Arty,” The Jerusalem Post, Friday, May 23, 1997, Vol. 5, No. 174, p.3.
“Arad Arts Project 1997,” Exhibition Catalogue, Essay by Dr. Zefira Gitay, Art Historian, Ben Gurion University, Beer-sheva.
Lectures and Panels:
Artists Now! Peck School of Art, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, September 14, 2011.
Studio Visit, New York Semester on Contemporary Art, Drew University, December 3, 2010.
Faculty Talk, Laura Nova, Assistant Professor, Creative Art & Technology, Bloomfield College, September 15, 2010.
Walk & Talk, Series of discussions on “Limited Run,” Real Art Ways, Hartford, CT, 2010.
Matinée screening of Chariots of Fire; post film discussion with Laura Nova connected to her installation “Limited Run,” Real Art Ways, Hartford, CT. 2010.
“The Crescendo Project,” Bloomfield College Technology Showcase, 2010.
“The Crescendo Project,” Quantified Self Meetup at Tisch ITP, NYU, 2009.
Artist Talk, Big Fish School of Digital Filmmaking, Johannesburg, South Africa, 2009.
Digital Soiree, Upgrade Event, Digital Arts, Wits School of Arts, Johannesburg, South Africa, 2009.
Diva Lecture, Wits School of Arts, Johannesburg, South Africa, 2009.
Conference on College Composition and Communication, San Francisco, 2009
Siggraph Review Panel, Los Angeles, 2008
Undergraduate Spring Critique Panel, The School of Visual Arts, 2006.
Workshop, Using Technology in the Classroom, Dept. of Ed., The Guggenheim, 2006.
Visiting Artist, The College of New Jersey, 2003.
Scholar Lecture Series, Rotary Foundation, 2001-2002.
Applying for Grants, Panel Discussion, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, 2001.
Artist Talk, Arad Arts Project, Mizel Museum, Denver, Colorado, 1998.
Current Appointment:
Assistant Professor, Creative Art & Technology, Bloomfield College, Bloomfield, NJ.
Professional Affiliations:
Member, College Art Association, New York, NY.
Harvestworks, New York, NY.
Member, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, New York, NY.
Member, The New Museum, New York, NY.
Member, Self-Quantifiers, NYC Chapter.
Collections:
Various private collections in New York, Chicago, Germany and Israel.