Luis Flores (b. 1985, West Covina, CA) lives and works in Los Angeles. He received his MFA from California Institute of the Arts in 2014 and BA in Art from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2009. Flores's approach to art-making involves a deliberate combination of the mechanics of self-portraiture and fabric material. The artist is best known for his life-size doppelgängers —soft sculptures constructed with hand-crocheted yarn. A limited engagement with and access to emotions is a hallmark of American masculinity, and Flores processes these notions of social norms and gender stereotypes through the form of his own body, which is in fact constructed by means of a craft often explicitly attached to the female gender. With these elements, he tackles the subject of what it was like to grow up identifying as a man, and the boundaries therein. His particular pairings provoke these social constructs and the language we use to describe them.
Education
2014 MFA, California Institute of the Arts, Santa Clarita, CA
2009 BA, Art, University of California, Los Angeles, CA
Solo Exhibitions
2019
Prende la Luz Que Tengo Miedo, Matthew Brown Los Angeles, CA
Another Thing You Did to Me, Salon 94, New York, NY
2018
Does Your Dick Touch Your Asshole?, Galerie Hussenot, Paris, France 2015
Whatever You Want It to Be, Grice Bench, Los Angeles, CA
2014
Boxer, D300 Gallery, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA 2013
I Am Handsome, Traction Arts, Los Angeles, CA
So Full of Potential... Is That All?, Lime Gallery, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia
2009
White Room, Los Angeles, CA
Selected Group Exhibitions
2022
House Parté 2: The Final Sale, Palm Springs, CA
Recent Sculpture, Matthew Brown, Los Angeles, CA
2021
ESTAMOS BIEN: LA TRIENAL 20/21, El Museo del Barrio, New York, NY
2020
A Very Anxious Feeling: Voices Of Unrest In The American Experience; 20 Years Of The Beth Rudin Dewoody Collection, Taubman Museum of Art, Roanoke, VA
Painting is Painting's Favorite Food: Art History as Muse, South Etna Montauk
New Images of Man, curated by Alison M. Gingeras, Blum & Poe, CA
2019
Thread., Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, CA
ILACIONES, Timothy Taylor, New York, NY
Every Fiber of My Being, Joseloff Gallery, University of Hartford, CT
That Land That I Live In, Matthew Brown Los Angeles, CA
Latino Heritage Month, Art + Practice, Los Angeles, CA
People, Jeffrey Deitch Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
2017
Midtown, Organized by Macarone, Salon 94, Salon94 Design, NYC, New York
2016
EVERYBODY! COME STAND ON THE ALTAR!, PSSST, Los Angeles, CA
Don't Call Me When You're Rich Or Famous. Call Me When You're In the Gutter, Grice Bench, Los Angeles, CA
2013
4x4, Main Gallery, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA
2011
After Works, Gallery 111, Los Angeles, CA
2009
UCLA Undergraduate Juried Exhibition, Juror Mark Allen, New Wight Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Undergraduate Senior Exhibition: Entitled, New Wight Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Collegial, A Painting Reapproach, Dortort Center for Creativity in the Arts, Los Angeles, CA
New Genres Exhibition, Broad Art Center 2122, Los Angeles, CA
Selected Bibliography
2020
Binlot, Ann. 5 Artists Tell Us The Hardships—And Benefits—Of Creating In Isolation, Document Journal. June 12. https://www.documentjournal.com/2020/06/5-artists-tell-us-the-hardships-and-benefits-of creating-in-isolation/
Leung, Gabrielle. Artists Of Color Reflect On Own Identities In "Portraiture: A Private Room,” Hypebeast. June 4. https://hypebeast.com/2020/6/salon-94-portraiture-online-viewing-room-artists-of-color Lang, Kristy. LA’s Felix Art Fair — Partying With Hollywood History, Financial Times. February 17.
Knight, Christopher. Review: Frieze? Please. Try the upstart Felix art fair at the Hollywood Roosevelt, Los Angeles Times, February 14. https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2020-02-14/felix-art-fair-hollywood-roos evelt
Vankin, Deborah. Judy Chicago And Jill Soloway Headline The Projects List At 2020 Felix L.A. Art Fair, Los Angeles Times. January 16. https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2020-01-16/felix-la-2020-special-project s-artists
Emilia Yin. How a Curator Visits Frieze LA, Wallpaper, February 16.
2019
Goldfine, Jael. Contemporary Latinx Art Will Be Honored At Frieze, Paper Magazine. April 30. https://www.papermag.com/frieze-new-york-dilogos-2635959589.html
Mizota, Sharon. Nude Dude In Body Paint, Cat Lady In Bondage, Human Totems: Meet Jeffrey Deitch’s ‘People, Los Angeles Times. April 2. https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-et-cm-jeffrey-deitch-review-20190402-story .html
Tilley, John Martin. Regular Guy, Office, March 18. http://officemagazine.net/regular-guy?page=1
Nowell, Cecilia. Luis Flores Wrestles With Gender By Crocheting Himself in WWE Mode, Bedford + Bowery, March 6. https://bedfordandbowery.com/2019/03/luis-flores-wrestles-with-gender-by-crotcheting-hi mself-in-wwe-mode/
Cascone, Sarah and Caroline Goldstein. 23 High-Energy Gallery Shows Opening in New York This March That You Won’t Want to Miss, Artnet. March. https://news.artnet.com/exhibitions/march-gallery-shows-1473883
2018
Goldstein, Andrew. 10 Of The Best Artworks From Frieze New York 2018, Something Curated, May4. 10 Of The Best Artworks At Frieze New York 2018, Artnet News. May 3. https://somethingcurated.com/2018/05/04/10-best-artworks-frieze-new-york-2018/
Abrams, Loney. Is That What I Think It Is? 6 Of The Most Outrageous Artworks At Frieze, Artspace. May 3. https://www.artspace.com/magazine/interviews_features/art-fairs/is-that-what-i-think-it-is 6-of-the-most-outrageous-artworks-at-frieze-55410
2015
18 Artists To Watch, Blouin ArtInfo. December 15.
Catalogues
2020
A Very Anxious Feeling: Voices of Unrest in the American Experience; 20 Years of the Beth Rudin DeWoody Collection. Taubman Museum of Art, 2020, 19.
Public Collections
Bunker (Beth Rudin DeWoody Collection)
Hammer Museum
University of Chicago Booth School of Business