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| ----------ARTIST---------- | ABOUT THE ARTIST |
| ARTISTS NAME | Aguilar, Laura
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| BIRTH DATE | 1959 |
| BIRTH PLACE | San Gabriel, CA |
| GENDER | Female
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| CITIZENSHIP | United States
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| NATIONALITY | Mexican, American
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| LIGHT WORK RELATIONSHIP | Artist-in-Residence 1992
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| LIGHT WORK PUBLICATIONS | Contact Sheet 78
Contact Sheet 97
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| ----------IMAGE---------- | ABOUT THE IMAGE |
| TITLE | Untitled Diptych, from series 'Clothed, Unclothed' |
| DATE | 1993 |
| HEIGHT IN INCHES | 19 |
| WIDTH IN INCHES | 15 |
| MEDIUM | Silver Gelatin Print
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| CATALOGUE NUMBER | 1994.2024-5B.7b
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| AVAILABLE PRINTS AND PUBLICATIONS | http://www.lightwork.org/catalog/backissues.html |
| COLLECTION LOCATION | 2024-5B.7b
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| CURRENT LOCATION | LW collection
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| ESSAY AND KEYWORDS | Webster defines voice as 'a medium or agency of expression' and 'the right and opportunity to express a choice or opinion.' While we all might have the right to express a choice or opinion, it is very much in question if we all have equal opportunity to do so. Laura Aguilar's recent photographic work speaks directly about the barriers she has encountered trying to express her individual rights in the process of finding opportunities and outlets for her art work.
In this series of photographs to right Aguilar presents herself, alone and naked in front of the camera. She has framed each picture in size and height to look like they might have been taken from behind a bathroom mirror. The framing reinforces the private tone of the pictures as if Aguilar is trying to understand how to look at herself while being trapped in the grasp of an outsiders gaze. The pictures are private and nonchalant and Aguilar maintains an expression of neutrality throughout the series - waiting with uncertainty and anticipation for us to acknowledge the openness of her presence.
Aguilar continues the private tone in the next series of four images titled 'Don't Tell Her Art Can't Hurt.' There are no subtleties in this series - straight forward text illustrates stark photographs of herself placing a pistol in her mouth. The text explodes with anger, drawn from her experience of finding doors closed to artists of color. Her anger is pointed in an oblique direction identifying her oppressors generally as 'they' and art as the source of her pain. While the text in this piece expresses anger, it is expressed in a way that suggests that anger is not the voice Aguilar is looking to put forth, but rather the one that she has found. Before she can build the bridges she talks about in the text, she feels she must first try to identify and then break through the barriers of prejudice and exclusions found between and among cultures.
Jeffrey Hoone (c)1992
Laura Aguilar lives in Los Angeles, California and participated in our Artist-in-Residence program in May, 1992 |
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