Laura Aguilar: Body and Landscape
Sun., March 22, 2026–Mon., Sept. 7, 2026
THIS LAND IS...
Virginia Steele Scott Galleries of American Art
Raised in the San Gabriel Valley, Aguilar created introspective works during the 1980s through the early 2000s. Her photographs reflect her Chicana, queer identity and the experiences of her friends in the LGBTQ and Latino communities. Through her self-portraiture, she engaged the landscape as a space for visibility and self-expression.
Anchored by In Sandy’s Room (1989), Aguilar’s first fully nude self-portrait and a pivotal image in her career, the exhibition includes significant works from her Nature Self-Portrait (1996), Stillness (1999), Motion (1999), Center (2000–2001), and Grounded (2006–2007) series. In Sandy’s Room was originally featured in The Huntington’s 2008 exhibition “This Side of Paradise: Body and Landscape in Los Angeles Photographs.”
A second rotation of Aguilar’s work, “Laura Aguilar: Day of the Dead,” will be on view Sept. 20, 2026–March 1, 2027, highlighting a lesser-known series from the early 1990s in which Aguilar documented Day of the Dead celebrations across Los Angeles, depicting artists, couples, and families active in the city’s Chicano art community.
About the Artist
Laura Aguilar
Laura Aguilar (1959–2018) developed an introspective and daring approach toward photography informed by her experience as a large-bodied Chicana lesbian who struggled to find acceptance in the mainstream art world. Her work, made primarily between the 1980s and 2008, includes powerful portraits of herself as well as friends and other artists from marginalized communities in Los Angeles. Raised in the San Gabriel Valley, Aguilar was introduced to photography by her brother, who had a small darkroom in their home.
As a shy, self-taught artist battling dyslexia and depression, she took inspiration and refuge within the natural environment and sought to explore the land as both backdrop and transformative space. She also spent time documenting political and cultural activities, such as Day of the Dead festivities, to celebrate the creativity and connectedness central to Mexican American communities in Southern California. Aguilar’s legacy reveals complex representations of beauty, landscape, and queer identity that no longer exist at the margins.
Huntington U: Laura Aguilar’s Lens
March 25, 2026; April 1, 2026; April 8, 2026; April 15, 2026; April 29, 2026; May 6, 2026
Top Image: Laura Aguilar, Grounded #106, 2006–2007, printed 2018. Inkjet print, sheet: 17 × 22 in. (43.2 × 55.9 cm). Gift of the Laura Aguilar Trust of 2016. The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens.
Generous support for these exhibitions is provided by the Hannah and Russel Kully Fund for American Art, the Robert F. Erburu Exhibition Endowment, and the Pasadena Art Alliance.