Laura Bartlett began her career working on the launch of Gagosian’s first gallery space in London with a seminal performance by Vanessa Beecroft, followed by exhibitions by artists such as Chris Burden, Eric Fischl, Georg Baselitz and Francesco Clemente. Laura worked closely with the gallery’s UK based artists such as Jenny Saville, Dexter Dalwood and Peter Davies and Richard Hamilton.
In 2005 Laura opened Laura Bartlett Gallery with a 4 week long performance by contemporary Japanese artist Sachiko Abe. The gallery swiftly became known for the successful development of the careers of young international artists, staging the first ever shows of artists such as Cyprien Gaillard, Becky Beasley, Lydia Gifford, Nina Beier and Marie Lund and bringing European focus to US artists artists such as Harrell Fletcher and Los Angeles based John Divola.
Laura from the outset sought to develop her artists careers outside of the gallery walls. Instigating permanent public sculpture projects with Joseph Kosuth on London’s Leathermarket Street as well public sculptures with Cyprien Gaillard, at Whitworth Park Manchester, and the Hayward Gallery in London. It was also a key feature of the programming to integrate, with the help of the gallery artists, live events such as performances, poetry readings, film screenings, dance classes and community projects.
The gallery strove to work closely with curators and international institutions to facilitate their exhibition programmes and prioritise the public viewing and long term vision of the gallery’s artists. The gallery participated in art fairs such as Art Basel, Artissima Turin, Frieze London, Frieze New York and FIAC for over 10 years. Laura was on the board of the Milan Art fair, MiArt for 3 years. The gallery focused on a providing a strong international platform for its artists and a vibrant dialogue with collectors, curators, institutions and artists which Laura maintains to this day.
The gallery closed in 2017, and its artists continue to be represented by high profile galleries across the world and achieve recognition through major museum exhibitions, awards and reviews in major art press.
In 2018 Laura was hired to launch and curate the first year of the art programme of Blue Mountain School in Shoreditch, with exhibitions reflecting Blue Mountain Schools commitment to nurturing engagements and interactions between diverse practices. View exhibitions at Blue Projects here.
Since 2020 Laura has worked independently with private collectors, corporate clients and hotel groups.