BIO
Lou Peralta
(Mexican b. 1964)
Lou Peralta is a visual artist and photographer based in Mexico City.
After graduating in graphic design at the Universidad Iberoamericana in 1992, she sought to follow the family tradition by becoming part of the fourth generation of photographers from the family of the Legendary HERRERA Portrait Studio in Mexico.
Over the following thirty years Lou established herself as a photographer for the magazine FotoForum as well as having done work for other magazines such as Marie Claire and Vogue among various others.
Lou’s work is influenced by both pre-Hispanic and contemporary culture which she fuses together as she seeks to explore, in depth, the meaning behind the concept of a portrait.
Fueled by her desire to push the boundaries of traditional 2-dimensional photographic portraits, she deconstructs and then reconstructs her work by adorning and interweaving a variety of items such as corn husks, agave cactus fibers, market bags and copper thread in order to create a transformation into a 3-dimensional work of art.
Lou says, “In my work, I look to push the limits of portrait photography. I try to capture a moment, a story, an emotion - albeit fleeting - to encapsulate for an instant the quintessential essence of that individual – and immortalize it in my art.”
Throughout the years, Lou has had multiple solo and collective shows both internationally and in Mexico. Due to her success as an artist she has been named a brand ambassador to Fujifilm as part of their X-Photographers program and also counts herself as an elected member of Cameracraftsmen of America International.
Her most recent accolades include being selected as a Top 50 in the Photolucida Critical Mass 2023 competition, along with being an invited guest to the 22nd Symposium of photography in Santa Fe, USA.
Artist Statement
As the fourth generation of a family of portrait photographers, I made a commitment in 2017 to devote myself full time to the artistic exploration of portraiture. My work fuses pre-Hispanic influences with contemporary culture, often extending my photographic works on paper by embedding physical references to historical and contemporary domestic life, as I seek to explore, in depth, the meaning behind the concept of a portrait.
CV
Lou Peralta / visual artist and photographer
Born in 1964 in Mexico. Lives and works in Mexico City.
Individual exhibitions
2024 Disassemble Pop-up Exhibition. Koslov Larsen Gallery. Houston, Texas, USA. (March 8 - April 13).
2023 "Comalli": Family history witness. Femgrafía Gallery. Hispanoamerica.
2022 "Deconstructed portraits". Gallery Obscura in Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States.
2019 "Disassemble Series". Koslov Larsen / former Foto Relevance Gallery. Houston, Texas, USA.
1998 Portraits. World of editorial photography with Canon. Mexico City.
1997 "When the future catches up with us". Kodak cultural program. Guadalajara, Mexico.
1990 "Observing her observes". Polyforum Cultural Siqueiros. Mexico.
Group shows
2024 "Size Matters Juried Exhibition". Medium Photo, San Diego, California, USA. (April 2 - 27).
2024 "Alone together" Critical Mass Top 50. Colorado Photographic Arts Center (CPAC).
Denver, USA. (Feb 23 - April 13).
2023 "Photographers and collage". Spring 2023. Thinking About Photography, USA.
2022 Houston Center of Photography, Auction 2022 exhibition. Houston, Texas, USA.
2021 3rd annual Art@CityCentreHou. Weingarten Group +Koslov Larsen /Foto Relevance Gallery. Houston, Texas, USA.
2021 "Habitat". 1st León Spring Festival Public Art. Guanajuato, Mexico.
2020 "Habitat". Guanajuato Museum of Art and History + FFiel. Leon, Guanajuato, Mexico.
2020 "Visual Conversations" https://www.visual-conversation.com/conversations-2020/lou-doug
2020 "Utopias femeninas". Patricia Conde Gallery. Mexico City, Mexico.
2020 "Restart: Limited Edition Collection". Photo Relevance Gallery.
2020 "Quarantine Blues". Koslov Larsen / former Foto Relevance Gallery. Houston, Texas, USA.
2020 "A Conversation between Women: Cecilia Villanueva /Lou Peralta". Consulate of Mexico. Houston, Texas, USA.
2019 "Feminism for all". Red from the Imagen FOTOMÉXICO. Gallery Un teatro. Mexico.
2017 Fujifilm GFX camera premiere. Indianilla Station. Mexico.
2008 "100 years of photographic tradition in Mexico". Tecnológico de Monterrey. Mexico.
1995 "If I die far from here". Image Center. Mexico.
1995 "San Angelinos at heart". Plaza Loreto. Mexico.
Education and formation
1999-2003 Director of Photography for Lifestyle Publications.
1992 Undergraduate degree in Graphic Design, with a specialization in Editorial Design, from the Iberoamericana University; honorary prize for the final dissertation. Mexico City.
1986-2017 Shots of Mexico's most renowned intellectuals, artists, entrepreneurs and politicians. Participated in the publication of various books and encyclopedias. Photographs published in several magazines.
2013 to 2018 Photographed the National Opera in the Bellas Artes Opera Theater in Mexico.
1984-1987 FotoForum magazine for photographers. Artistic Director/Associate.
Teaching and conferences
2024 Artist Talk on Zoom 4/17 “Cutting, weaving, imbedding: Exploring three-dimensionality in Photography”. Center for Fine Arts Photography C4fap. Fort Collins, Co, USA.
2023 Keynote speaker at the Cameracraftsmen of America International Convention. Mexico.
2023 Invited to Medium Photo and Colorado Photographic Arts Center (CPAC)'s 'Preparing for Portfolio Reviews Workshop' with Mary Virginia Swanson, USA.
2022 Workshop "From professional photographer to visual artist" in the Fujifilm X Day. Presented by Fujifilm. Mexico.
2022 Invited to the Medium Photo “Preparing for Portfolio Reviews” workshop with Mary Virginia Swanson, USA.
2021 Fujifilm Mexico Conference "From a professional photographer to a visual artist". Fujifilm Day in Mexico.
2021 FotobservatorioMx. Forum transmitted by the Soumaya museum. Mexico.
2021 Artist Panel in Professional Development Seminar: “Preparing for Online Portfolio Reviews”, organized by FotoFest, Houston, USA.
2020 Fujifilm Mexico Conference on the theme "Portrait" at FFIEL (Leon International Festival of Photography). Mexico.
2016 Speaker "Opera photography" sponsored by Fujifilm, World Trade Center. Mexico.
2014 Speaker "Mirrorless technology" sponsored by Fujifilm, World Trade Center. Mexico.
1998 Conference "The world of editorial photography with Canon" sponsored by Canon. Mexico.
1997 Kodak Professional Cultural Program "When the Future Catches Up", sponsored by Kodak. Guadalajara. Mexico.
1995 Conference “100 years of photographic tradition in Mexico” McCormick Place, Chicago, Annual Convention of the PP of A (Professional Photographers of America). USA.
1994-1996 Courses at the Iberoamericana University on photography, editorial design and advanced graphic arts. Mexico City.
Publications and interviews
2023 Femgrafía interview: "Lou Peralta: exploring the multidimensions of photography"
2023 FRAMES magazine interview by Diana Nicholette Jeon titled "Conjuring Photographic Alchemy".
2023 Lenscratch magazine, interviewed by artist Elizabeth Stone titled “Photography into sculpture: Lou Peralta”.
2022 Cover story of "Pasatiempo", cultural supplement of the Santa Fe New Mexican newspaper, NM, United States. By T.D. Mobley-Martinez, Editor-in-Chief.
2022 Interview with Obscura gallery owner Jennifer Schlesinger. USA.
2022 Interview by Camila Álvarez "Mis fotos son mi telar" / "My photos are my loom".
2022 Interview by Ramón Fregoso, sponsored by Fotomecánica. Mexico.
2021 Interview by 50th anniversary edition of the journal Latitudes Science and Humanities School (CCH) of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). Titled: “We are all essentially the same: a spark of light.”
2021 Interview by Michael Kirchoff. Catalyst Magazine: interviews.
2017 Anniversary edition of Fotozoom magazine. Mexico.
2016 X-Photographers book. Fujifilm International.
2015 Zoom Magazine Italy. Number 243.
2015 X-Photographers book. Fujifilm International.
2014-2018 Portfolio on Fujifilm international webpage.
Associations
2023 Cameracraftsmen of America International elected member.
Awards
2023 Photolucida Critical Mass 2023 Top 50.
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Contact:
Lou Peralta
email: info@louperalta.art
https://www.louperalta.art
Mexico City
Represented by KOSLOV LARSEN Gallery in Houston, Texas, US.
koslovlarsen.gallery
Represented by OBSCURA GALLERY, LLC in Santa Fe, New Mexico, US.
https://www.obscuragallery.net
Lou Peralta´s work is available in Mexico City through PATRICIA CONDE GALERÍA.
https://pcg.photo/es/home
Lou Peralta Studio.
YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyfSls1fymM6D12EF_nG2uQ
