# Laura Fritz

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For the Austrian handball player, see [Laura Fritz (handballer)](/source/Laura_Fritz_(handballer)).

**Laura Fritz**, is a [Portland, Oregon](/source/Portland,_Oregon) based installation artist who incorporates sculpture, light and video.[1]

Fritz is noted for her immersive science lab environments.[2] Originally trained as a painter in Iowa, since showing at [Pacific Northwest College of Art](/source/Pacific_Northwest_College_of_Art) in 2000 Fritz has been practicing as an installation artist utilizing custom furniture, cast forms, light and space.[3] Though she's been hailed as one of "the most exciting video artists in the country"[4] in the company of other noted Portland residents [Miranda July](/source/Miranda_July), [Matt McCormick](/source/Matt_McCormick) and [Harrell Fletcher](/source/Harrell_Fletcher), Fritz's work differs as she creates video objects like *Transposition* (2005)[5] or installations like [\[1\]](http://www.qpca.com/exhibitions/2008_2c) *Interspace* (2008), both of which featured the shadows of animals that appear to inhabit a constructed, minimalist space. Other exhibitions like *Intrus* (2010) and *Caseworks 13* (2007) at [Reed College](/source/Reed_College) drew critical attention without video, instead using light like a material for sculpture.[6] In 2007, Fritz was awarded one of the coveted NAAU stipend shows,.[7] The resulting show *Evident* (2009) received much praise among critics.[8] In an exposé on the surge in the Portland art scene's recent rise in prominence [Peter Plagens](/source/Peter_Plagens) singled her work out as, "Ms. Fritz's 'Entorus' comprises mostly abstract—and, at first, barely perceptible—images projected on the walls and floor of a darkened room temporarily set aside in an office-building basement. It was one of two truly memorable artworks I saw during my brief tour. If you think that's skimpy, remember that these days a stroll through New York's Chelsea gallery district probably wouldn't yield much more."[9]

## Exhibitions and press

Laura Fritz has exhibited at the [Des Moines Art Center](/source/Des_Moines_Art_Center), [Reed College](/source/Reed_College), [Aljira Center for Contemporary Art](/source/Aljira_Center_for_Contemporary_Art), Soil Art Gallery, [Pacific Northwest College of Art](/source/Pacific_Northwest_College_of_Art), the [Barrett Art Center](/source/Poughkeepsie_(city),_New_York#Entertainment_and_the_arts), [Portland Art Museum](/source/Portland_Art_Museum), [Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art](/source/Jordan_Schnitzer_Museum_of_Art) and the [New American Art Union](/source/New_American_Art_Union). Fritz was named as a 2014 Fellow in the visual arts by the Oregon Arts Commission.[10]

A favorite of critics, her work frequently provokes a strong response such as, "...This stressing of anti-narrative opens up the possibility of uncertainty, a more active intellectual state, the space of change....She knows where the edges are, liminal territories with room to move. She puts into service a series of challenges in identifying, consuming and silencing the art object."[11] In 2021 she was a Visiting Artist for the University of Oregon's School of Visual Arts in 2021 and as part of that program delivered a talk titled, "The Mechanisms of Uncertainty" via Zoom [12] during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

## Background

Originally from Chicago she studied art at [Drake University](/source/Drake_University) with [Joe Biel](/source/Joe_Biel) and [Jules Kirschenbaum](http://www.askart.com/askart/k/jules_kirschenbaum/jules_kirschenbaum.aspx) whose figurative style she distanced herself from, instead focusing on [Donald Judd](/source/Donald_Judd) and [Eva Hesse](/source/Eva_Hesse) for their perceptual and material qualities. The filmmakers, [Alfred Hitchcock](/source/Alfred_Hitchcock) and [David Lynch](/source/David_Lynch) are also often brought up when discussing her work.

## References

1. Hackett, Regina [\[2\]](http://www.seattlepi.com/visualart/224974_visual20.html), Seattle Post Intelligencer May 20th 2005

1. Nelson, Sarah [\[3\]](http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Content?oid=21529) [The Stranger](/source/The_Stranger_(newspaper)), May 26, 2005

1. Gallivan, Joseph [[https://kboo.fm/media/75449-joseph-gallivan-interviews-installation-artist-laura-fritz-about-her-show-apex-portland](https://kboo.fm/media/75449-joseph-gallivan-interviews-installation-artist-laura-fritz-about-her-show-apex-portland), [KBOO](/source/KBOO) September 10, 2019

1. Hackett, [\[4\]](http://www.seattlepi.com/visualart/243793_portlandart.html) Regina Seattle Post Intelligencer, October 10th 2005

1. Henderson, Harvest [The Oregonian](/source/The_Oregonian) October 10th 2005

1. Little, Matthew [[http://heroinchic.weebly.com/blog/interview-with-artist-laura-fritz](http://heroinchic.weebly.com/blog/interview-with-artist-laura-fritz), [Anti-Herion Chic](/source/Anti-Herion_Chic) August 2016

1. Jahn, Jeff [\[5\]](http://www.portlandart.net/archives/2007/10/naau_is_the_tim.html), PORT October 9, 2007

1. Motley, John [Portland Mercury](/source/Portland_Mercury) [\[6\]](http://www.portlandmercury.com/portland/glimpsing-the-ephemeral/Content?oid=1055192) January 15, 2009.

1. Plagens, Peter [\[7\]](https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303916904577378300036157294), [The Wall Street Journal](/source/The_Wall_Street_Journal) May 2nd 2012

1. ["Laura Fritz | Oregon Arts Commission"](https://www.oregonartscommission.org/fellowship-profile/laura-fritz)

1. Pence, Elizabeth Artweek, September 2005

1. ["Visiting Artist Lectures | School of Art + Design"](https://artdesign.uoregon.edu/art/events/visiting-artist-lectures#fritz)

## External links

- [Artist's home page](http://www.laurafritz.net)
- [Interview with Laura Fritz](http://www.portlandart.net/archives/2009/02/interview_with_3.html)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Laura Fritz](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_Fritz) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_Fritz?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.