Motion #46
Laura Aguilar, American, 1959 - 2018
1999
Gelatin silver print
3/10
Image: 18 1/4 × 13 3/16 in. (46.3 × 33.5 cm)
Sheet: 19 7/8 × 16 1/16 in. (50.5 × 40.8 cm)
Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Purchased through the Elizabeth and David C. Lowenstein '67 Fund, the Edward, Julia, Victoria, and Christopher Hansen Fund for Photographic Acquisitions, and the Sondra and Charles Gilman Jr., Foundation Fund
© Laura Aguilar
2022.12.7
Geography
Place Made: United States, North America
Period
20th century
Object Name
Photograph
Research Area
Photograph
Not on view
Inscriptions
Signed, on reverse, below center, in graphite: Laura Aguilar 3/10
Label
Placing her own figure in front of the camera, Aguilar asks viewers to appreciate the inherent beauty of her body in nature, alongside two other feminine figures. They entangle their limbs in the sinuous branches, embracing nature and their bodies in pursuit of self-acceptance. Aguilar—as a self-described Chicana, lesbian, fat, and disabled woman—uses her photography to emphasize aspects of her identity that have been systematically scorned. Unable to find this sense of acceptance in society, she reaches out to nature to love, explore, and express herself. From the 2023 exhibition A Space for Dialogue 111, Taking Up Space: Forming Body and Identity, curated by Milanne Berg '24, Homma Family Intern
Photographer Laura Aguilar—a self-described fat, disabled Chicana lesbian—draws influences from the modernist tradition of landscape photography while reversing the gaze of the often white male–dominated field. Entwined with the tree branches, the three women create a symbiotic dialogue between their bodies and the landscape, affirming their place and belonging with the land. In this poetic composition, Aguilar maps the body as a continuation of the natural landscape, presenting us with the possibility that bodies and places are inseparable.
From the 2024 exhibition [Un]Mapping: Decolonial Cartographies of Place, curated by Beatriz Yanes Martinez, Hood Museum Board of Advisors Mutual Learning Fellow, Curatorial and Exhibitions
Course History
Art History 40.03, Latin American and Caribbean Studies 20.11, Art and Politics in Latin America, Mary Coffey, Fall 2023
Art History 40.03, Latin American and Caribbean Studies 20.11, Art and Politics in Latin America, Mary Coffey - OPEN HOURS, Fall 2023
Art History 40.03, Latin American and Caribbean Studies 20.11, Art and Politics in Latin America, Mary Coffey - OPEN HOURS, Fall 2023
Art History 5.01, Introduction to Contemporary Art, Mary Coffey and Chad Elias, Winter 2024
Anthropology 3.01, Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, Charis Boke, Summer 2024
Exhibition History
[Un]Mapping: Decolonial Cartographies of Place, Harteveldt Family Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, June 8 -November 3, 2024.
A Space for Dialogue 111, Taking Up Space: Forming Body and Identity, Milanne Berg, Class of 2024, Homma Family Intern, Alvin P. Gutman Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, 4 March - 22 April 2023.
Provenance
Laura Aguilar Trust of 2016, Los Angeles, California; sold to present collection, 2022.
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