Elisa Valenti is a self-taught contemporary figurative painter whose works delight in the beauty and vigor of real, luscious bodies.
Valenti’s paintings are a sensuous celebration of form. Voluptuous figures reach, twist and revel in a Fauvist dance across the canvas, honoring their vessels. The bodies Valenti paints serve as a looking glass for those whose own bodies have been underrepresented in modern and contemporary art. Utilizing arresting colors evocative of the Fauves and Cubist color-blocking, Valenti adapts two iconic styles pioneered by men and flips the gaze inward. As well, she draws inspiration from her mother’s career as a lingerie sample-maker and master dress maker, venerating the celestial mounds and valleys of the female form. Each brushstroke highlighting the curve of a hip or roll of flesh is an act of defiance – a celebration of radical worthiness. Based in Queens, New York, Valenti is a daughter of immigrants. She studied fine arts and art history at the High School of Art and Design. She holds a Doctorate of Pharmacy from St. John’s University. Valenti’s work has been on display at Superfine Fair and The Other Art Fair, as well as group exhibitions with UNREPD, Curare, PxP Contemporary, Showfields, Untitled Space, and On Center Gallery. Valenti debuted a solo exhibition at Established Gallery in Brooklyn, NY titled “Radical Worthiness” in 2020. Most recently, she showed her work in an all woman exhibition titled NATÜRLICH with Helium Cowboy Gallery in Hamburg Germany.
