Aguilar, Laura, 1959-

Chicana photographer whose work reflects identity categories (Chicano, gay/lesbian, women), geography (Los Angeles, Southwest, United States), and social issues (the body, sexuality, obscenity). Her work deals mostly with portraiture, documenting social groups and identities that remain invisible in mainstream culture such as Latina lesbians, black couples, and obese people.

Biographical Note:

Laura Aguilar is a photographer whose works are mostly portraits. Professor Chon Noriega of UCLA's Department of Film and Television writes that Aguilar's work documents "social groups and identities that remain invisible in mainstream culture: Latina lesbians, black couples, obese people, et al." She cooperates with her subjects so that "her work is not about power differentials between photographer and subject as is often, if implicitly, the case with...the social documentary tradition." An autobiographical element is also apparent in Aguilar's work. Art critic Diana Emery Hulick noted that "the circumstances of [Aguilar's] life are reflected overtly in her art." Aguilar, Hulick wrote, "is large, lesbian, and Chicana, acutely aware of her separateness, yet comfortable enough with herself to present us with a personal vision that is both intimate and authoritative."

Laura Aguilar was born in west San Gabriel Valley, California in 1959. She has studied in the East Los Angeles Community College photography program and the Santa Fe Photographic Workshop, among other programs. In 1994/95 she was the recipient of a California Arts Council Fellowship and in 1991/92 of an Artist's Project Grant from Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions (LACE). Her work has appeared in exhibits in California, Texas, New York, and Mexico. Collections of her work can be found at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Santa Monica Cultural Affairs Department in Santa Monica, California. Aguilar lives in Rosemead, California.

Diana Emery Hulick "Laura Aguilar," Latin American Art 5:3 (1993), 52-54.

Biography

Laura Aguilar was born in 1959 in San Gabriel, California. Aguilar attended the photography program at East Los Angeles Community College and continued her studies with The Friends of Photography Workshop and Santa Fe Photographic Workshop. Her work has been exhibited at the Venice Biennial, Italy; the Los Angeles City Hall Bridge Gallery, the Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions (LACE), Los Angeles Photography Center,Women's Center Gallery at the University of California in Santa Barbara, Self Help Graphics, all in CA; and the University of Illinois in Chicago, IL. She was an Artist in Residence at Light Works in Syracuse, NY in 1993; received a Brody Grant from the California Community Foundation in 1992; received an Artist in Residence grant from the California Arts Council through the Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center of Los Angeles in 1991/92; and an Artist's Project Grant from LACE in that same year. [This biography is from the website http://www.sla.purdue.edu/WAAW/Corinne/Aguilarbio.htm]