Lala Meredith-Vula

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Photo by Lala Meredith-Vula from the series "Toys"

Lala Meredith-Vula (* 1966) is an English and Kosovar Albanian artist and photographer. In 1988 it was part of the Freeze exhibition directed by Damien Hirst . Lala is a professor at De Montfort University in Leicester, England.

Live and work

Photo by Lala Meredith-Vula "Haystack", Brezovica, Kosova 2016

Lala Meredith-Vula was born in Sarajevo and moved to England in 1970 . She attended Trent University in Nottingham (1984-85) then Goldsmiths College , (1985-88) and finally the Univerzitet u Prištini in Kosovo for postgraduate studies.

In 1988 she was one of the exhibitors at the Freeze exhibition , organized by Damien Hirst, which featured the works of many of the artists who would later become known as Young British Artists . Since then, Lala has held numerous international exhibitions and was recently part of Documenta 14 .

Since 1989 she has taught at various universities in Great Britain, the United States and Kosovo. In 1995 she set up the first photography department at the University of Tirana , Albania and in 2000 a photography department at the University of Pristina.

A particularly important experience for Meredith-Vula was a photo series in Kosovo showing haystacks from Albanian farmers. The comparison of their cosmopolitan art experience with their provincial origins under the question "What is art?" provided a solution:
After studying art for many years and visiting many galleries around the world, I soon discovered that the context of a work of art played a big role in where it is placed. In all my research, I had to return home to discover the true meaning of my search, in the fields of my former hometown I experienced a way of life that was as old as the land itself, where the farmers did their business, had everything Space. In all of this, I saw that the farmers were somehow unconsciously creating strange sculptures that had the presence of modern sculptures. Here part of my search was over. I had found the meeting point between my new art world as an artist and my past in the landscape of Kosova.

She has also photographed women in Turkish baths over a period of two years (6 months of which were approved) and a series that shows women standing and moving under the surface of the water. She explained that: "Women and Water" is about the beauty and imperfection of the free body under water. Many women feel deformed by social influences, especially in the West. They can dissolve in water and reappear as part of nature in a classic and expressive way.

Her works can be found in a number of important art collections, including: Arts Council of Britain, Arthur Andersen Collection, Center of Photography in Geneva, Collezione La Gaia, Doria Pamphilj Gallery Collection, Doria Pamphilj Palace Museum, The Teseco Foundation, The British Council Collection.

Lala currently teaches at De Montfort University in Leicester.

haystack

Lala has been photographing haystacks from farmers in Eastern Europe since 1989. An ongoing series exhibited at Photographer's Gallery, London, Croation Fine Art Society, Zagreb, Kosova ARt Gallery, Kosova, documenta 14 in Kassel and Marubi Museum, Albania.

Blood memory

Photograph by Lala Meredith-Vula, Blood Memory
Photo by Lala Meredith-Vula from Blood Memory , Gjonaj, Kosova, May 2, 1999

Lala followed and photographed the blood feud reconciliation movement in Kosova in 1990 and 1991 and took a series of photographs that were shown at Kosova Art Gallery in 2015. She was a researcher on a BBC documentary Under the Sun (1991) - broadcast on BBC 1 in 1992.

Awards

  • 1997 London Art Board's "Individual Artists Award".
  • 1998 "Special Jury Prize", PhotoSynkria Festival, Greece.
  • 1998 "Flash Art" Prize, Onufri '98, National Gallery, Albania.
  • 2001 Sargent Fellowship, British School, Rome, Italy
  • 2002 "Paul Hamlyn Award" nominated.
  • 2006 Bryan Robertson Trust Artist Award.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Monika Szewczyk: Lala Meredith-Vula. Retrieved January 15, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Meredith-Vula ( Memento of February 12, 2005 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ↑ John Stathatos: LALA MEREDITH-VULA Bathers. Photosynkyria, 1999, accessed January 15, 2019 .
  4. ↑ DOCUMENTA 14: IN PROGRESS. Retrieved January 15, 2019 .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Meredith-Vula, Lala
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British artist and photographer
DATE OF BIRTH 1966
PLACE OF BIRTH Sarajevo