Biography

Valeri Larko is best know for her densely painted landscapes of the urban fringe, all of which she paints on location. She is attracted to the decaying and abandoned structures that populated the outskirts of America’s urban centers and the stories these places can tell.

Valeri Larko’s paintings have been exhibited in museums and galleries in the US and Europe. Solo exhibitions include Bronx Museum, NY, Lyons Wier Gallery, NYC, WallWorks NY, Bronx, Hampden Gallery, University of Amherst, MA, Montserrat College of Art, Beverly, MA, The Morris Museum, Morristown, NJ, The Hunterdon Art Museum, Clinton, NJ, The New Jersey State Museum, Trenton, Safe-T-Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, Bronx River Art Center, NY, The College of New Rochelle, NY and the Visual Arts Center of New Jersey, Summit.

Notable group exhibits include The Bronx Museum, NY, Fleming Museum, Burlington, VT, Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH, Lehman College Art Gallery, Bronx, NY, Addison Ripley Fine Art, Washington DC, Barbara Frigerio Gallery, Milan, Italy, Stockton College Art Gallery, Galloway, NJ, The Katonah Museum of Art, NY, The Jersey City Museum, The National Academy of Sciences in Washington, DC, Aljira, a center for contemporary Art, Newark NJ, Bruton Street Gallery in London, England and the American Embassy in Minsk, Belarus. Valeri Larko is represented by Lyons Wier Gallery, NYC.

In the fall of 2000 Valeri Larko was awarded a major mural commission from New Jersey Transit and the New Jersey State Council on the arts for the Secaucus Transfer Station. She painted four murals for their north mezzanine. Completed in August of 2003, the Secaucus Transfer Station is the largest train station in the state of New Jersey. Additional honors include grants from The Joyce Dutka Art Foundation, the George Sugarman Foundation, the New York Foundation for the Arts Strategic Opportunity Grant, New Jersey State Council on the Arts Fellowship and an Artist in Residence Fellowship from the Newark Museum. Ms. Larko’s work is in the collections of the Jersey City Museum, The Montclair Museum, The New Jersey State Museum, Johnson and Johnson, Rutgers University, Hudson County Community College and a number of other significant organizations.

Valeri Larko grew up in Lake Parsippany and lived in Northern NJ most of her life surrounded by endless miles of industrial parks, highways and shopping malls all of which have contributed to her fascination with the built environment. She was educated at the Du Cret School of the Arts, Plainfield, NJ and the Arts Students League, New York City, In 2004, Valeri moved from northern New Jersey to an artist loft building in New Rochelle, New York from which she is currently exploring the fringes of the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens.

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2019 Susquehanna Art Museum, Harriburg, PA
2017 Lyons Wier Gallery, New York City, "End Game"
2016 Bronx Museum, Bronx,

NYWall Works, NY, Bronx,

NYHampton Gallery, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
2015 Lyons Wier Gallery, New York City, “Location, Location, Location”
2013 Montserrat College of Art, Beverly, MA
2012 Adoni Group Showroom in Collaboration with J.Cacciola Gallery, New York City
2010 Majestic Theatre Lobby, Jersey City, NJ, Tanks Trash and Graffiti curated by Brendan Carroll
2009 Morris Museum, Morristown, NJ, Valeri Larko: Two Decades (catalogue, essay)
Hunterdon Art Museum, Clinton, NJ, Urban Edges, (catalogue, essay)
2008 Bronx Borough President's Art Gallery, Bronx, NY
2007  College of New Rochelle, NY
Domo Gallery, Summit, NJ
2006  Visual Arts Center of New Jersey, Summit, NJ
2005  Safe-T-Gallery, Brooklyn, NY Bronx River Art Center, Bronx, NY
2003 The Art Guild of Rahway, Rahway, NJ, Consumed, (catalogue, essay)
1999 Secaucus Transfer Station, NJ, Permanent Installation of NJ Transit Murals
1998 Kent Place Gallery, Summit, NJ
1997 Visual Arts Center of New Jersey, Summit, NJ, Works on Paper
1996 Johnson & Johnson Gallery, Corporate Headquarters, New Brunswick, NJ
1994 New Jersey State Museum, Trenton, NJ, (catalogue, essay)

Union County College, Tomasulo Gallery, Cranford, NJ

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS since 1998

2019 WallWorks NY, Bronx, NY, Three Person exhibition with Jane Dickson and Juanita Lanzo.

Flinn Gallery, Greenwich, CT, “Spaces of Uncertainty” Two person exhibition with Linda Kuehne.
2018 Manhattan Borough President’s Office, “Common Views”, NYC

Susquehanna Art Museum, Harrisburg, PA, “Ideation”, Sketchbooks and preliminary drawings exhibition.
2017 Lodge Gallery, New York City, "Outer Boroughs"

Urban Art Fair, New York City, Exhibiting with WallWorks NY Gallery

Susan Eley Fine Art, New York City, "Vroom'Vroom, Beep. Beep" A Group Exihibition Celebrating

America's Car Culture
2016 Benjamin J. Dineen III and Dennis C. Hull Gallery, HCCC, Jersey City, NJ, "Housing Works" curate by

Michelle Vitale
Art Miami, exhibiting with Lyons Wier Gallery
Addison Ripley Fine Art, Washington DC, "Infrastructure"
Lyons Wier Gallery, New York City, "Converging Landscapes"
Visual Arts Center of NJ, Summit: Guide Ropes & Live Wires: Works by the Arts Center Faculty
Lehman College Art Gallery, The City University of New York, Bronx Architectural Intersections

2015 The Center for Contemporary Art, Bedminster, NJ “+1: Painters look at Painters”
2014 Art Southhampton exhibiting with J. Cacciola Gallery
Andrew Freeman Home, Bronx Artist Documentary Project, Bronx , NY
2013 Art Miami exhibiting with J. Cacciola Gallery
Art Southhampton exhibiting with J. Cacciola Gallery
J. Cacciola Gallery, New York City, "Exit the Freeway", Two Person exhibition
Fleming Museum, University of Vermont, Burlington, "High Trash"
2012 Bronx Museum, NY, "Bronx Lab: Style Wars" through June 2, 2013
Stockton College Art Gallery, Galloway, "NJ Learning from New Jersey: Paintings By Tim Daly & Valeri Larko"
J. Cacciola Gallery, New York City, Two person exhibition
Barbara Frigerio Gallery, Milan, Italy, Group Summer show
Bulter Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio, "Contemporary American Realism"
2011   Knickerbocker Loft, New Rochelle, NY, Knickerbocker 2011 curated by John Reverol
2010 Studio21South, North Adams, MA, " Re/Imaging New York"
2009 ACA Galleries, "New York: Then and Now", New York City
Mikhail Zakin Gallery, Old Church Cultural Center, Demarest, NJ, "Our Present Planet"
2008 Prince George Gallery. New York, City, Group show curated by Lise Curry
St Joseph College, Brooklyn, NY, "Two Artists, Two Realities", Two person Exhibition
Jersey City Museum, NJ, "Sprawl" (catalogue)
Morris Museum, Morristown, NJ, "New Jersey, Then and Now"
Krasdale Galleries, Krasdale Foods Corporate Headquarters, White Plains, NY, Travels to Bronx, NY
2007  Art Now Miami, FL, Art Fair showing with Safe T Gallery
Metaphor Contemporary Art, Brooklyn, New York "Green"
George Billis Gallery, New York City, "Good Night Sun"
Aferro Gallery, Newark, New Jersey, "Our Man in Havana, The Vacuum Cleaner in Art"
2006  Atlantic Gallery, New York City, "Trash, what we value and what we throw away"
Ramapo College of New Jersey, Mahwah,"Palpable Painting"
2005  Jersey City Museum, NJ, "Jersey City Interprets" (works from the Permanent Collection)
Katonah Museum of Art, Katonah, NY, "Artistic Fragments" curated by Benny Andrews
Victory Hall, Jersey City, NJ, "SKYway" curated by Rocío Aranda-Alvarado, Jersey City Museum
2004  Newark Arts Council, Newark, NJ, "Mix in the Bricks" curated by Chakaia Booker
Art in Embassies Program, Minsk, Belarus 2004-2007
2003  NJ State Council on the Arts, Trenton, NJ "Selections from the State Museum's Permanent Collection"
Metaphor Contemporary Art, Brooklyn, New York, "Paper 2003"

Morris Museum, Morristown, NJ, "NJ Fine Arts Annual," (catalogue)
2002  Visual Arts Center of New Jersey, Summit, NJ, "Preview: NJ Transit Murals," Two Person Exhibit
NJ State Museum, Trenton, NJ, "Women's Works: Fine Art from the Museum's Collection"
Bruton Street Gallery, London, England, "Gallery Artists," (catalogue)
2001  Bruton Street Gallery, London, England, "New Year, New Talent," catalogue)
Rutgers University, Newark, NJ, "15E: Contemporary Art and the NJ Turnpike," (catalogue)
2000 Pierogi, Brooklyn, New York, Flat Files
Jersey City Museum, Jersey City, NJ, "From the Slide Registry" Three Person Exhibition
1999  New Jersey State Museum, Trenton, NJ, "New Jersey Arts Annual," (catalogue)
Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ, "Uncommon Landscape"
Visual Arts Center of New Jersey, Summit, NJ, "Art in Summit - Centennial Exhibition"
1998  MB Modern Gallery, New York City, "New York Perspectives"

National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC, Art in the Academy, Two Person Exhibit
Saint Anselm College, Manchester, New Hampshire, "The Art of Representation"
William Paterson University, Wayne, NJ, Ben Shahn Galleries," Biennial," (catalogue)

AWARDS

2009 Joyce Dutka Art Foundation Award for painting
2006 George Sugarman Foundation Grant for painting

  Strategic Opportunity Grant, NY State Council on the Arts and NY Foundation for the Arts
2002  Artist in Residence Fellowship, Newark Museum
1998  Residency Fellowship, Vermont Studio Center
1992  Painting Fellowship, New Jersey State Council on the Arts
167rd Annual Julius Hallgarten Prize, National Academy of Design, New York City (catalogue)
1988  163rd Annual Julius Hallgarten Prize, National Academy of Design, New York City (catalogue)

PANEL DISCUSSIONS AND LECTURES

2018 Mid-Atlantic Chapter Of the Ecological Society of America, Presentation on the intersection of art and
urban ecology. Rutgers University, Newark, NJ
2015  BX200 Virtual Artist Studios in conjunction with No Longer Empty's exhibition "
2010  When You Cut Into the Present, the Future Leaks Out." Presentation of the Ferris Stahl Meyers paintings.
2009  Valeri Larko: Two Decades, Morris Museum, Morristown, NJ
2008  Industrial Postmortem: Panel discussion at Jersey City Museum, NJ
2007  Two Artists, Two Realities, Artist talk, St Joseph's college, Brooklyn, NY
2002  Artists Using Discards: Media and Message, Chakaia Booker, Jenny Krasner, Valeri Larko,

Panel Discussion & Exhibit, Federation of NY solid waste and recycling convention,

Sagamore, Lake George, NY
2002 Artist in Residence Lecture and Exhibition: Newark Museum, NJ

SELECTED PUBLIC & CORPORATE COLLECTIONS

Jersey City Museum, NJ
Montclair Museum, NJ
The New Jersey State Museum, Trenton, NJ
New Jersey Transit, Secaucus, NJ
Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ
Johnson & Johnson, New Brunswick, NJ
Fox Industries, Foster City, CA
MacArthur Petroleum, Newark, NJ
IMTT - Bayonne, NJ
Cooper Alloy, Hillside NJ
City Hall, Summit, NJ

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS since 1998

Untapped Cities: An Intimate Look at Six Artists in New Rochelle, NY’s Thriving Art Scene, April 3, 2019, Cristiana Pena & Nick Porter.
Hamptons Art Hub: Tales To Be Told from an Urban Plein Air Painter, December 13, 2017, Pat Rodgers
Artnet News: Editors’ Picks: 19 Things to See in New York This Week, November 6, 2017, Eileen Kinsella,

Valeri Larko “End Game” at Lyons Wier.
Harpers Magazine, March edition, 2017
Tracy’s New York Life: Tracy Kaler blog post, January 19, 2017, Artist Valeri Larko Finds Beauty in

New York City’s Urban Landscapes
Hamptons Art Hub: November 18, 2016, Pat Rodgers, Urban Plein Air Painter Valeri Larko Gives Talk on

Process and Adventures at WallWorks NY
Street Art NYC: June 9, 2016, Lois Stavsky, Interview with Painter Valeri Larko at the Bronx Museum of the Arts
Riverdale Press: April 29, 2016, Alice Guilhamon, “Meeting the face of the Bronx”
Creative Boom: blog post, April 27, 2016, Katy Cowan, “Artist Paints Honest Urban Landscapes”
The Nice Niche: blog post, February 24, 2016, Valeri Larko, Artist
Faith is Torment Blog, October 26, 2015, Jason Jose, “A Bronx Block, Paintings by Valeri Larko”
The Bronx Artist Documentary Project: Hard cover book, 30 photographers, 80 artists. 2015 (BxADP) is a

borough-wide collaborative endeavor involving Bronx photographers documenting Bronx visual

artists at work in their studios or other Bronx venues.
News 12 Bronx: April 4, 2015, “New website helps to connect Bronx artists”
News 12 Bronx: December 23, 2014, Local artists launch online art directory
NY Daily News, Monday December 15, 2014 by Denis Slattery: Online list will link Bronx artists,

A pair of Bronx-loving artists have created a web directory to help boost the borough’s

burgeoning art scene.
Wall Street Journal, July 25, 2014, Valeri Larko Preserves the Impermanent, Artist Captures Graffiti on the

Bronx's Ferris Stahl-Meyer Building" by Jennifer Weiss
Journal News, June15, 2014, “Finding Beauty in Unexpected Places” by Linda Lombroso
NY Daily News, July 18, 2013 Grafftit artists mourning loss of another beacon as West Farms meat plant

is set to be razed. replaced by apartments by Dennis Slattery
News 12 Bronx, June 13, 2013. Cable TV interview with Amanda Plasencia: Best of the Bronx
New Jersey Monthly Magazine, February 2013 Agony and the Exstasy of the Outmoded by Eric Levin
The Three Tomatoes Blog, July 2012: At The Gallery with A. Bascove, Valeri Larko at J. Cacciola Gallery
Society of Industrial Archeology Newsletter, Summer 2011, "The Urban Industrial Landscapes of

Valeri Larko" Betsey Fahlman
American Artist Magazine, September 2011, "On Location at the Urban Fringe", Austin R. Williams
American Arts Quarterly, Winter 2011, Review of Valeri Larko: Two Decades
Failbetter.com Literary Website February, Issue 38, 2011
Greetings from Brooklyn, Randall Gabrielan, 2011, Schiffer Publishing
Hoboken, History & Architecture at a Glance, Randall Gabrielan, 2011, Schiffer Publishing
ARTnews, September 2010, Review of Valeri Larko at the Morris Museum, Doug McClemont
New York Times, May 13, 2010, "Your Industrial Decay Is Her Inspiration," Tammy La Groce
The Record, May 5, 2010, "Review of Valeri Larko exhibit at Morris Museum," John Zeaman
New Jersey Star Ledger, May 2, 2010, "New Jersey's declining manufacturing sites and salvage yards

make a fertile landscape," Dan Bischoff
Two Coats of Paint, art blog, June 12, 2009, Valeri Larko: Industrial plein air
Inside Jersey Magazine, June 2009, "Woman of Industry," Jennifer Weiss
New Jersey Monthly Magazine, June 2009, Get Out: Valeri Larko Urban Landscapes
Ins and Outs Magazine, Winter 2008/2009, Long Island City, NY, Feature Article, Rachel Kalina
The George Washington Bridge, Poetry in Steel, 2008, Michael Arron Rockland, Rutgers University Press
New Jersey Star Ledger, May 16, 2008, "Something in Jersey That Deserves Laughs," Dan Bischoff
New Jersey Star Ledger, March 28, 2008, "Living Large in New Jersey," Dan Bischoff
New Jersey Monthly Magazine, March 2008, Get Out Section, "ART: Decongestant"
New Jersey Star Ledger, November 15, 2007, artnotes, "Jersey Realist," Dan Bischoff
Harpers Magazine, June edition, 2007
Jersey City - A Monumental History, June 2007, Randall Gabrielan, Schiffer Publishing
New Jersey Star Ledger, May 19, 2006, "A faculty for diversity," Dan Bischoff
New Jersey Star Ledger, March 15, 2006, Artnotes, "Jersey vistas in Brooklyn," Dan Bischoff
NJN Public Television & Radio, 2005, "Turnpike" TV Documentary on the New Jersey Turnpike
New Jersey Monthly Magazine, January 2003 "Bruce Springsteen and 40 More New Jerseyans

We Love" Maggie Bruen
New York Times, November 10, 2002 "Think Modern Art is Junk?" Margo Nash
New Jersey Star Ledger, August 16, 2002, "They've been working on the Railroad," Dan Bischoff
New York Times, August 11, 2002, "Murals for a Rail Hub Evoke Power of Transportation," William Zimmer
New York Times, April 28, 2002, "Themes are Universal in Artworks by Women," William Zimmer
Harpers Magazine, April edition, 2002
New Jersey Star Ledger, October 2, 2001, "Asphalt Artery," Dan Bischoff
New York Times, November 12, 2000,"The Sounds of Creativity: Artists' Studios Are Not So Still," William Zimmer
Art of the State - New Jersey, Harry N. Abrams Inc., 1999
New York Times, September 5, 1999, "Unexpected Pleasures," William Zimmer
New York Times, August 1, 1999, "Recent Works with an Air of Familiarity," Barry Schwabsky
New York Times, July 30, 1999, "A Garden of Subjects, Materials & Styles Across New Jersey," Holland Cotter
New Jersey Star Ledger, July 23, 1999, "Dramatic Diversity," Dan Bischoff
New York Times, September 27, 1998, "Familiar Sights, Freshly Portrayed," William Zimmer
New Jersey Monthly Magazine, May 1998, "Painting a Lost World," Joel Lewis

CURATORIAL EXPERIENCE

BX200: Bronx Visual Artist Directory: Co-Founder 2014: www.bx200.com
Tomasulo Art Gallery, Union County College, Cranford, NJ, Gallery Director/ Curator 1996- 2010