Milagros de la Torre is an artist whose conceptually rigorous practice examines the language and authority of photographic images. Working across photography and installation, her layered work critically interrogates the codes, conventions, and assumptions that shape visual representation and meaning.
She earned a B.A. (Hons) in Photographic Arts from the University of the Arts London. Her first solo exhibition Under the Black Sun (1993), curated by Robert Delpire, was presented at the Palais de Tokyo, Paris. In 1995, she worked as a curatorial assistant in the Photography Department at the Musée Carnavalet.
De la Torre is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship (2011), the Dora Maar Fellowship (2014), the Peter S. Reed Foundation Award in Photography (2016), the Merited Person of Culture medal of Peru (2016), the Smithsonian Artist Fellowship (2021), and recognition by Hundred Heroines, UK (2021). Earlier distinctions include the Romeo Martinez Photography Prize, the Young Ibero-American Creators Prize for her series The Lost Steps (1998), and the Rockefeller Foundation artist grant.
Her work has been exhibited at leading institutions worldwide, including Museum of Modern Art MoMA, Art Institute of Chicago, International Center of Photography, Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Museu de Arte de São Paulo, and Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
Her work is held in major public collections including Museum of Modern Art MoMA, J. Paul Getty Museum, Art Institute of Chicago, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Harvard Art Museums, Princeton University Art Museum, Ruby City The Linda Pace Foundation, Fonds National d’Art Contemporain, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, MALBA Museum. A complete list of institutional collections is available here.
She has participated in residencies at the Getty Research Institute, Cité Internationale des Arts, NYU Tisch School of the Arts and Artpace. She was appointed the Wolf Chair in Photography at the Cooper Union (Fall 2023) and serves on the Board of the Penumbra Foundation.
Her work has been reviewed by Artforum, Art in America, The New Yorker, Frieze Magazine, ARTnews, The New York Times, The Guardian, The Wall St. Journal, TIME Magazine.
Milagros de la Torre lives and works in New York.
CV - Download PDF