ROME, ITALY.- Brancolini Grimaldi presents the first solo show of artist Laura Letisnksy in Italy. The exhibition combines two bodies of work, "Hardly More Than Ever" and her newest series "Say It Isn't So".

With "Dirty Pretty Things", Laura Letinsky presents a multitude of elegant tabletop arrangements charged with personal expression. These delicate still-life compositions document the remains of human existence within familiar domestic spaces, leaving something altogether startling in its beauty and awkwardness.

Letinsky's formally calculated constructions intended for visual and psychological contemplation are reminiscent of 17th century Dutch and Flemish painting, in which the viewer's attention is drawn to the subtle details which command the still-life scenes.

Pink cupcake crumbles and a lone china plate have been forgotten on a white tablecloth stained with rings of red wine. Emitting a sweet palette of pastel, the initial attraction to Letinsky's images is often incited by the artist's delicate use of color and composition, The scenes mark a time past, a celebration finished, the leftovers of a person's presence.

Perhaps the photographs comment on the homemaker's delusions of quotidian life in the home. Or perhaps they are simply modern interpretations of the classical still life. Regardless Letinksy's elusive scenes possess a magnetic quality that urges the viewer to return to the images again and again.

Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada in 1962, Laura Letinsky received her degrees in photography from the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg (BFA, 1986) and Yale University School of Art, New Haven (MFA, 1991). Her works have been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Art Institute of Chicago; Casino Luxembourg; The Netherlands Foto Institute; Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography, Ottawa; and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, among others.

Her photographs are present in several permanent collections, including the Yale University Art Gallery and the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Fine Art, Houston, the San Francisco Museum of Art, and the Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago. Letinsky lives and works in Chicago.