LAMB Gallery is pleased to announce Valentino Cortázar and Daisy Dodd-Noble: Dialogues.
Dialogues is an annual exhibition series presented by LAMB Gallery, dedicated to bringing together two artists whose practices offer distinct yet complementary perspectives. Now in its second iteration, the exhibition joins Colombian painter Valentino Cortázar (b. 1949) and British painter Daisy Dodd-Noble (b. 1989), both of whose surreal approaches reimagine the art historical tradition of landscape painting. Through the pairings in Dialogues, LAMB Gallery aims to explore shared affinities across generations and geographies, creating space for new connections between artists, ideas, and viewers, while fostering fresh interpretations through the harmonious encounters that emerge in the gallery space.
Cortázar’s artistic journey began at the age of eighteen, when he left Colombia to embark on a series of global travels. During this time, he absorbed the technical language of the art institutions in London, Paris, and Madrid, while developing a deep appreciation for the rich visual quality of the Mediterranean, learning from the vibrant landscapes of Greece and Spain. Returning to Colombia, Cortázar applied his new knowledge with a keen eye for his homeland’s natural beauty as he depicted the peaks of the Sierra Nevada and the sandbars of Barú. His paintings transcend literal representation, merging time and memory through an ethereal interplay of light and color. “You are brave and have freedom in your hands,” Salvador Dalí once told him– a sentiment that encapsulates the vitality and joy within Cortázar’s spirited approach to painting.
Dodd-Noble crafts compositions that conjure an otherworldly quality, capturing landscapes that feel both desolate and untouched. Her caricatured forms of nature are animated by a sense of wonder and a distinctly playful colour palette. Though rooted in the rural scenes of her native United Kingdom, Dodd-Noble’s practice is increasingly shaped by her travels. The works featured in Dialogues depict places she has been drawn to for their luminous light and abundant plant life, which includes Santa Teresa, Costa Rica; Ibiza, Spain; and Sintra, Portugal. Across these dreamlike compositions, she depicts cypress trees, banana plants, palm trees, pines, and bougainvillea, inviting viewers into her deeply observed vision of the natural world.
The landscapes of Cortázar and Dodd-Noble transcend cultures, painted from various locations and contexts, yet evoking universal sensations of quiet observation and a poignant appreciation of nature's beauty. Their works offer a dreamlike, almost fantastical utopia, particularly resonant in an era marked by dramatic environmental change, where the desire for escapism remains a prominent theme. Cortázar and Dodd-Noble have never met, yet their works appear to speak intuitively to one another, unified by a reverence for the natural world and an instinct for translating its imagery into something that speaks across boundaries.
For more information, please contact: info@lambgallery.com
Valentino Cortázar (b. 1949) lives and works in Cartagena, Colombia. He began as a self-taught painter, later receiving degrees from Historia del Arte, Complutense University of Madrid, Spain (1973), The Royal Academy of Art, Copenhagen, Denmark (1975), Villa Romana, Florence, Italy (1976), and Grand Chaumiere Academy, Paris, France (1980). Recent solo exhibitions include his permanent exhibition at Valentino Cortazar Studio Gallery in Cartagena (2019-present), as well as Palace of El Marqués de Valdehoyos (2015-2018), curated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Colombia, and Lamantia Gallery in New York (2014). He has also participated in Art Basel at the Webster (2012) and exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art of Cartagena, Colombia (2011). Cortazar's work has been featured in several group exhibitions, including ‘Quote Unquote: Jim Amaral and Valentino Cortazar,’ LAMB Gallery (2017) and ‘Our Place in Space’ at Atlantis, Bogotá (2018). He has also been exhibited at Le Salon Comparaisons, Grand Palais, Paris (2007-2011), Gary Nader Fine Art, Miami (1994), the Boca Raton Museum of Modern Art (1989), and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Bogotá (1982).
Daisy Dodd-Noble (b. 1989) is a painter based in London, England. She graduated in 2016 with her MFA from the prestigious New York Academy of Arts in TriBeCa, New York, where she was part of the class “Painting from the Imagination” with Inka Essenhigh and a tool class with Kurt Kauper and Jean-Pierre Roy. Since then, her work has been exhibited in several countries, including the United States, Italy, and the United Kingdom. Recent exhibitions include: ‘Truth of the forest,’ MASSIMODECARLO, Paris (2024); ‘I look at the moon like a fellow traveller,’ LAMB Gallery, London (2024); ‘Origins,’ L21 Barcelona, L’Hospitalet, Barcelona (2022); ‘Landscapes from the UK,’ Roman Road, London (2022); ‘Two Sisters,’ Roman Road, London (2022); ‘When Life Doesn’t Give You Lemons,’ Tchotchke Gallery, New York (2020); and ‘Idle Thoughts,’ Soho Revue, London (2020). Dodd-Noble recently completed a residency at Worlingham Hall in Suffolk in 2024.