Lavalette is a contemporary art advisory and creative studio specializing in photography.
Founded by Shane Lavalette as an independent imprint in 2009, Lavalette has since evolved to facilitate a wide range of creative collaborations, including acquisitions, publications, exhibitions, commissions, and curatorial projects — supporting artists, collectors, companies, and institutions.
⤷ Get in touch to discuss a project.
Rodrigo Valenzuela - American Type #7, 2018
Acquired by private collection
Advisory
Lavalette advises private collectors and companies on acquisitions by established, mid-career, and emerging artists, and facilitates original commissions. We also support publishing, creative direction, project management, and strategic consulting, drawing on a diverse and global network to realize each vision.
Misha de Ridder - hilton, 2021, from Unreal Reality
Acquired by private collection
Pacifico Silano - Ride the Wind, 2020
Acquired by private collection
Manjari Sharma - Untitled, 2019, from Surface Tension
Acquired by Luckman Club, Soho House West Hollywood, CA
Placements
Beyond private collections, Lavalette has supported award-winning artists in placements with corporate collections and major museums.
These artists are represented in leading institutions worldwide, including the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), the High Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in London, Foam Fotografiemuseum in Amsterdam, and the Musée de l’Elysée in Switzerland, among others.
Misha de Ridder
Installation view, Unreal Reality (2024)
Work by artist acquired by Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Vasantha Yogananthan - Rama Breaking The Bow, 2016
Acquired by private collection
Work by artist acquired by Fidelity Investments Corporate Art Collection
David Alekhuogie
Installation view, I made this for you (2023)
Work by artist acquired by The Picker at Colgate University
Alejandro Cartagena
Complete first editions (25 books) acquired by the Witliff Collection
Artist book archive (87 maquettes and various ephemera) acquired by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Commissions
In the commercial sphere, Lavalette partners with artists and leading magazines and brands on distinctive creative projects, campaigns, editorial work, and site-specific installations. Lavalette connects artists with opportunities that allow their singular vision to shape original commissions and supports clients on art direction, photo editing, research, and licensing.
Artists have completed commissions for The New Yorker, The New York Times, New York Magazine, National Geographic, TIME, The Wall Street Journal, Elle, Vice, Vogue, The Economist, the BBC, Balenciaga, Guerlain, Google, HP, Nike, UNESCO, and WaterAid, among others.
Penelope Umbrico - 541,795 Suns from Sunsets from Flickr (Partial) 01/23/06, 2006 (detail)
Licensing, The Economist
David Alekhuogie
Commission, Vince Staples for Justsmile
Alanna Fields
Commission, Black Family Heirlooms for The New York Times
Artists
In recent years, Lavalette has had the privilege of working closely with a diverse range of artists on select advisory projects, acquisitions, exhibitions, public programs, commissions, and initiatives.
Such artists include David Alekhuogie, Poulomi Basu, Alejandro Cartagena, Carolyn Drake, Doug DuBois, Alanna Fields, Daniel Gordon, For Freedoms, Fumi Ishino, Klea McKenna, Taiyo Onorato & Nico Krebs, Christian Patterson, Sarker Protick, misha de ridder, Simon Roberts, Manjari Sharma, Pacifico Silano, Alec Soth, Penelope Umbrico, Rodrigo Valenzuela, Cristina Velásquez, Hannah Whitaker, and Vasantha Yogananthan, in addition to many others.
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