Rafael Lozano-Hemmer was born in Mexico City in 1967. In 1989 he received a B.Sc. in Physical Chemistry from Concordia University in Montréal, Canada.

Electronic artist, develops large-scale interactive installations in public space, usually deploying new technologies and custom-made physical interfaces. Using robotics, projections, sound, internet and cell-phone links, sensors and other devices, his installations aim to provide "temporary antimonuments for alien agency". His work has been commissioned for events such as the Millennium Celebrations in Mexico City (1999), the Cultural Capital of Europe in Rotterdam (2001), the United Nations' World Summit of Cities in Lyon (2003), the opening of the Yamaguchi Centre for Art and Media in Japan (2003) and the Expansion of the European Union in Dublin (2004).
His work in kinetic sculpture, responsive environments, video installation and photography has been shown in two dozen countries, including Art Basel Unlimited (Switzerland), the Sydney Biennale (Australia), the Liverpool Biennial (UK), the Shanghai Biennial (China), the Istanbul Biennial (Turkey), Bienal de la Habana (Cuba), Architecture and Media Biennale (Austria) and others. His work is in private and public contemporary art collections such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Jumex collection in Mexico, the Daros Foundation in Zürich and the Tate Collection in London.

At the Prix Ars Electronica in Austria, his pieces have received a Golden Nica, a distinction and two honourable mentions. He also won two BAFTA British Academy Awards for Interactive Art in London, a distinction at the SFMOMA Webby Awards in San Francisco, "Artist/ performer of the year" at Wired Magazine's Rave Awards, a Rockefeller fellowship, the Trophée des Lumières in Lyon and an International Bauhaus Award in Dessau, Germany.

He has given maNew York workshops and conferences, most recently at Goldsmiths college and The Bartlett school of architecture in London, ICC in Tokyo, Loopholes symposium at Harvard, at the MIT MediaLab, the Guggenheim Museum, IDCA in Aspen, LA MOCA, Netherlands Architecture Institute, UC Berkeley, Berlin Transmediale, British National Museum of Photography and the Art Institute of Chicago.

His writing has been published in Kunstforum (Germany), Leonardo (USA), Performance Research (UK), Telepolis (Germany), Movimiento Actual (Mexico), Archis (Netherlands), Aztlán (USA) and other art and media publications. He has been in several international juries and committees, including the Fondation Daniel Langlois, ISEA, Hexagram, Prix Milia d'Or in Cannes, GMD in Bonn, the International Art and A-life award and Cyberconf in Madrid. He has been a resident artist twice at the Banff Centre for the Arts in Canada. His website is at www.lozano-hemmer.com


SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2007

  • "Some Things Happen More Often Than All Of The Time", Mexican Pavilion – 52 Biennale di Venezia, Venice.
  • "Pulse Front", Public art installation commissioned by and premiered at LuminaTO. Curated by The Power Plant and Co-produced with Harbourfront Centre, Toronto.

2006

  • "Body Movies", Museum or Art, HK Arts Development Council, Hong Kong.
  • bitforms gallery, New York.
  • "Under Scan", public art commission, East Midlands Development Agency, Nottingham, Castle Wharf, Derby, Market Square, Northampton, Market Square, Leicester, Humberstone Gate West.
  • "33 Questions per Minute", Spots Mediafaçade, with realities:united, Postdamer Platz 10, Berlin.

2005

  • "Subsculptures", Galerie Guy Bärtschi, Geneva.
  • "Under Scan", public art commission, East Midlands Development Agency, Lincoln, Brayford University Campus.
  • "Subtitled Public", Sala de Arte Público Siqueiros, Mexico City.

2004

  • OMR Gallery, Mexico City.
  • "Vectorial Elevation", EU expansion celebrations, O'Connell Street, Dublin.

2003

  • bitforms gallery, New York.
  • "Vectorial Elevation", Fête des Lumières, Place Bellecour, Lyon.
  • "Amodal Suspension", opening project of the Yamaguchi Center for Art and Media, Yamaguchi, Japan. Access Pods and terminals for the piece were installed at: MACBA in Barcelona, MARS Lab in Bonn, C3 in Budapest, Fundación Telefónica in Buenos Aires, MIT MediaLab in Cambridge, Bauhaus in Dessau, IAMAS in Ogaki, ZKM in Karlsruhe, Kyoto Art Center in Kyoto, FACT in Liverpool, Science Museum in London, Ojo Atómico in Madrid, Laboratorio Arte Alameda in Mexico City, SAT in Montréal, Sarai in New Delhi, Eyebeam in New York City, Wood Street Galleries in Pittsburgh, V2_Organisatie in Rotterdam, Itaú Cultural Center in São Paulo, Sendai Mediatheque in Sendai, Art Center Nabi in Seoul, NTT-ICC in Tokyo, MeSci in Tokyo, Ontario Science Centre in Toronto, Emily Carr in Vancouver, WRO Center in Wroclaw and Multimedia Institute in Zagreb.
  • "Relational Architectures", Laboratorio Arte Alameda, Mexico.
  • "Body Movies", Duisburg Akzente, Duisburg.

2002

  • "Two Origins", Place du Capitole, Printemps de Septembre Festival, Toulouse.
  • "Vectorial Elevation", Opening project of Artium, Basque Contemporary Art Museum, Vitoria-Gasteiz.

2001

  • "Body Movies", Cultural Capital of Europe Festival, V2 Grounding, Rotterdam.
  • "Airport Cluster", Foto/Graphik Galerie Kaethe Kollwitz, Berlin.

2000

  • "Vectorial Elevation" Zócalo Square, Mexico.

1997

  • "Re:Positioning Fear", 3rd Internationale Biennale Film +Architektur, Graz.

1992

  • "On the Same Hand but in a Different Vein", Galerie Stornaway, Montreal.


GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2007

  • "Automatic Update", Museum of Modern Art, New York.
  • "Art Basel Unlimited", OMR, Guy Bärtschi and bitforms gallery, Art 38 Basel Fair, Basel.
  • "Auto Emotion", Power Plant, Toronto.
  • "Floating Artworks", TD Centre, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto.
  • "Phantasmagoria, Specters of Absence", ICI, Biblioteca Luis Angel Arango, Bogotá.
  • Art Brussels, Galerie Guy Bärtschi, Brussels.
  • "Huge", Artcore Gallery, Toronto.
  • ARCO, OMR, Guy Bärtschi, bitforms gallery, Madrid.
  • Artefiera, Galerie Guy Bärtschi, Bologna.
  • "Lines of Flight", LEF-CAAC, Hunter College, New York.
  • LA Art Chelsea, OMR Gallery, New York.
  • Pulse Fair, bitforms gallery, New York.
  • "Collective One", Galerie Guy Bärtschi, Geneva.

2006

  • "Plataforma", Fábrica La Constancia, Puebla.
  • "Forms of Classification: Alternative Knowledge and Contemporary Art", CIFO, Miami.
  • "Only the Paranoid Survive", HVCCA, Peekskill, New York.
  • Armory Show, OMR Gallery, New York.
  • FIAC, Galerie Guy Bärtschi, Paris.
  • "Pre-Emptive", Kunsthalle Bern.
  • "Zones of Contact", Biennale of Sydney, Art Gallery of New South Wales.
  • Volta, Guy Bärtschi, Basel.
  • Toronto Art Fair, Artcore Gallery, Toronto.
  • "Levinas: Ethics of Encounter", McGill University, Montréal.
  • "Electrohype", Malmo.
  • "Caleidoscopios", Centro Cultural de España en Buenos Aires, Argentina.
  • ARCO, OMR, Guy Bärtschi, bitforms gallery, Madrid.
  • ARCO, Comunidad de Madrid.
  • "Scrabble", Centro Atlántico de Arte Moderno, Las Palmas.

2005

  • "Dataspace", Laboratorio Alameda, Mexico.
  • Art Basel Miami, OMR Gallery.
  • "In the Line of Flight", Tsinghua University, Beijing.
  • Guy Bärtschi, Geneva.
  • "Algorithmic Revolution", ZKM, Karlsruhe.
  • MUSAC, León.
  • FIAC, Galerie Guy Bärtschi, Paris.
  • Centro cultural de España, México.
  • Art Cologne, Galería Metropolitana, Cologne.
  • bitforms gallery Seoul.
  • "Art Basel Unlimited", OMR Gallery, Art 36 Basel, Basel.
  • Art Brussels, Galerie Guy Bärtschi.
  • Musée d'Art Contemporain, Elektra Festival. Montréal, Québec.
  • Dataspace Exhibition, Conde Duque Art Center, Madrid.
  • ICC, Art Meets Media, Tokyo.
  • ARCO, bitforms gallery, Madrid.
  • ARCO, OMR Gallery, Madrid.
  • Salón Bancomer, Museum of Modern Art, Mexico.

2004

  • "LOOP", Galería Metropolitana, Barcelona.
  • Art Basel Miami, OMR Gallery.
  • "Techniques of the Visible", Shanghai Biennial, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai.
  • Art Cologne, bitforms gallery.
  • ARCO, OMR Gallery, Madrid.
  • SAT, Montréal.
  • "Navigator exhibition", National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung.
  • LA MOCA Digital Gallery. Los Angeles.
  • Art Basel 35, Galería OMR, Basel.

2003

  • Art Basel Miami, OMR Gallery, Miami.
  • Paris Photo, Statement Project Room, Paris.
  • "Open", New Designs for Open Space, Van Alen Institute, New York.
  • "Ill Communication", Dundee Contemporary Art, Dundee.
  • "Critical Conditions", Wood Street Gallery, Pittsburgh.

2002

  • "Resonancias", Observatori, Valencia.
  • E-phos Festival, Athens. Liverpool Biennial, FACT, Liverpool.
  • OK Centrum, Ars Electronica Festival, Linz.
  • SAPPHIRE 02, Lisbon, Portugal.
  • 6th International Festival for Architecture in Video, Florence.
  • "Emoçao Art.ficial", Itau Cultural, Sao Paulo.
  • "Cibervisión 2", Conde Duque, Madrid.
  • "Egofugal", 7th International Istanbul Biennial, Istanbul.

2001

  • " MAD01", Ifema. Madrid.
  • "Media Arts Festival", Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Tokyo.
  • "Interactiva00", Museo de Arte Contemporaneo, Mérida.
  • "Net.artmadrid", ARCO. Madrid.

2000

  • 7. Bienal de la Habana, Havana.
  • Int. Festival for Architecture in Video, University of Florence.
  • "Mediaterra 2000", Fournos Center, Athens.
  • "Split", Splitski Filmski Festival, Croatia.
  • "File", Museum of Image and Sound, São Paulo.
  • "OK Center", Ars Electronica Festival, Linz.
  • "Art electrònic a EspaNew Yorka" Sala d'Exposicions de la Caixa de Sabadell, Sabadell.
  • Next Festival, Karlstad.
  • "Yo y mi Circunstancia", Musée des Beaux Arts, Montréal.

1999

  • "ZKM", Medienkunstpreis 2000, Karlsruhe.
  • Interactive Urban Landscapes, Copenhagen.
  • Art Futura Festival, Sevilla.

1998

  • "Image architettura in movimento", Turin.
  • Festival de Video de Navarra, Pamplona.
  • Viper 98 webart selection, Lucerne.
  • "Lo Mejor de los dos Mundos", Cuenca.
  • "Arte Virtual, Realidad Plural", Museo de Monterrey, Monterrey.

1997

  • "Remote Sensations", Ars Electronica Festival, Linz.
  • MOPU, Festival Internacional de Info-arquitectura. Madrid.

1996

  • Nova Scotia Community College, Halifax.
  • Actual '96, Logroño.
  • Apple Computer, Cupertino, California.

1995

  • European Media Art Festival in Osnabrück.
  • "The External Interior (Interactive Spectator)", Ex-caotica group show, Galeria Cruce, Madrid.
  • Theater, Music, Dance and New Technologies. Torino.
  • Forskningscentrum fur Informatik. University of Karlstad.
  • Museo Nacional Reina Sofia, Infografía en España series.
  • ARCO'95, Fundacion Arte y Tecnologia. Madrid.

1993

  • Akademie der Bildenden Kunste. Nuremberg.
  • "Tomorrow's Realities", SIGGRAPH'93, Anaheim, California.
  • 2!M VR Exhibition, Comunidad de Madrid. Madrid.
  • "En-red-arte", Círculo de Bellas Artes, Madrid.
  • ARCO'93 Art Fair, Madrid.

1992

  • "Memoires Vives", Infographie Canada, Montréal.

1990

  • "The Dancers Answer Questions", Banff National Park, Alberta.


ARTIST RESIDENCIES AND WORKSHOPS

  • NRC, Institute for Research in Construction, Ottawa, 2005-2007
  • HUMO workshop, Interfacing realities master class, AEC Linz, February 2003
  • Karlstad University, Sweden, March 2000
  • SAGAs writing interactive fiction. Munich, November 1999
  • Centro Nacional de las Artes. Mexico City, November 1994
  • Complutense University of Madrid, January-June 1993
  • Banff Centre for the Arts. Alberta, Canada, May-November 1990


LECTURES AND PRESENTATIONS

2007

  • Tate Modern, London
  • Fondazione Bevilacqua la Massa, Venice
  • Power Plant, Toronto

2006

  • ICC, Tokio
  • Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney
  • Bartlett School of Architecture, London
  • Goldsmiths College, London
  • Logo Parc, ámsterdam
  • Guggenheim Museum, NEW YORK
  • Concordia University, Montreal
  • Q-Arts, Derby

2005

  • School of Architecture, University of Lincoln
  • Phoenix Arts, Leicester
  • Broadway, Nottingham
  • Metro Cinema, Derby
  • Avenue Campus, Northampton
  • Loopholes Symposium, Harvard University
  • SAPS, Mexico City
  • Kodak Lecture, Ryerson, Toronto
  • IVF, Victoria
  • ICC Tokio

2004

  • Media Space, Stuttgart
  • Udla symposium, Puebla
  • Fundación Telefónica, Madrid
  • Carlos III, Madrid
  • CITRU, México City
  • SAT, Montreal
  • IDCA, Aspen
  • MICA, Baltimore
  • LMCC, New York

2003

  • Royal College of Art, Estocolmo
  • Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media, Yamaguchi
  • FCMM, Montreal
  • Embajada de Canadá, Tokio
  • Laboratorio Arte Alameda, México D.F
  • Making Art of Databases, V2_Organisatie, Rotterdam
  • California Science Center, Los Angeles
  • Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
  • Digifest, Toronto
  • Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design / UBC, Vancouver
  • ARCO, Madrid

2002

  • Bauhaus, Dessau
  • MIT MediaLab, Cambridge
  • National Research Council of Canada, IMI Montréal and IRC Ottawa
  • Prix Ars Electronica Forum, Linz
  • Arts International, Rhizome blender, NEW YORK
  • Museums as Media Symposium, Guggenheim Museum, NEW YORK
  • Subtle Technologies conference, University of Toronto
  • UCLA, Art department, Los Angeles
  • LA MOCA, Art in Motion lecture series, Los Angeles

2001

  • Transurbanism Symposium, Netherlands Architecture Institute, V2, Rotterdam
  • Interventions Symposium, National Museum of Photography, Bradford.
  • Istanbul Biennial, Istanbul
  • Ars Electronica Festival, Engineers of Experience, Linz
  • Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media, Yamaguchi
  • Wexner Center, Media Arts and Culture Colloquium, Ohio
  • School of the Art Institute of Chicago
  • Art, Technology and Culture Colloquium, UC Berkeley
  • Santa Rosa College, Santa Rosa CA
  • Transmediale, Berlin

2000

  • Center for the Arts and Humanities, SUNEW YORK, AlbaNew York, NEW YORK
  • Prix Ars Electronica Forum, Linz
  • Next Conference, Karlstad, Sweden

1999

  • Consejo de la artes de Nuevo Leon, Monterrey, México

1998

  • Dutch Electronic Art Festival, Rotterdam, Netherlands
  • Virtual Museum Symposium, Arch Foundation, Salzburg, Austria
  • Viper 98, Webart selection, Lucerne, Switzerland
  • Universidad de Granada, Granada
  • In Art Festival, Tenerife
  • Imagina 98, Le Sense du Numerique, Monaco

1997

  • In Art 97, Tenerife
  • Jornadas El Objeto Inmaterial, Trasforma, Vitoria
  • IATM conference, Keynote speaker, Palacio de Correos, Madrid
  • Seminari
  • "Conocimiento del Arte", Residencia de Estudiantes, Madrid

1996

  • Festival Sonar 96, Barcelona
  • Seminario de Paul Hertz, Politécnico, Valencia
  • Seminario Ciberarte, Fundación CAM, Alicante, Valencia y Murcia
  • In Art 96, Tenerife
  • Feria de Arte ARCO 96, Madrid
  • Milia 96, Cannes

1995

  • Festival Ciber-ría 95, Bilbao
  • Art Futura 95 Festival, Madrid
  • Jornadas sobre Arte y Comunicación Multimedia, Politécnico, Valencia
  • Learning in Networks Conference, University of Karlstad, Sweden
  • U.N.A.M. Department of Art, Mexico City
  • Tecnológico de Monterrey, Department of Communications, Monterrey

1994

  • Fundacion Arte y Tecnología de Telefónica, Madrid
  • U.A.M. Azcapotzalco, Department of Design, Mexico City
  • Consejo de Ciencia y Tecnologia CONACYT, Mexico City
  • Muse
  • de Antropología, Mexico City

1993

  • Feria de Arte ARCO 93, Madrid
  • Concordia University, Department of Design, Montreal
  • Canadian Studies Association, Pamplona
  • Concordia University, Communications Department, Montreal

1992

  • Oboro Gallery, Montreal
  • York University, Departamento de Teoria Social y Política, Toronto
  • Ontario College of Art, Departamento de Arte Mediático, Toronto


PERFORMANCE ART

Technological Contemporary Dance with Transition State Theory:

  • X'Teresa Arte Alternativo. Mexico City, November 1994
  • Akademie der Bildenden Kunste. Nuremberg, Germany, November 1993
  • SIGGRAPH '93 Festival. Anaheim, California, August 1993
  • Circulo de Bellas Artes, Sala de Columnas. Madrid, June 1993

Performances with Dick Higgins:

  • Storm Riders hörspiel, Danish State Radio, October 1992
  • Alberta College of Art, several short Fluxus pieces, October 1990
  • Banff Centre, The City that Could performance, September 1990

Technological Theatres with PoMo CoMo:

  • Ars Electronica Festival. Linz, Austria, June 1992
  • Experimental Intermedia. New York, December 1991
  • Artscourt. Ottawa, November 1991
  • Festival du théâtre à risque, Musée du Québec, November 1991
  • Le Musée d'art contemporain de Montreal. October 1991
  • The Music Gallery. Toronto, September 1991
  • Hallwalls Gallery Vault. Buffalo, NEW YORK, May 1990
  • Articule Gallery. Montreal, July 1988
  • Universite Laval, Learneds Conferences. Quebec, May 1988
  • York University, Strategies of Critique. Toronto, March 1988


RADIO AND RADIO ART

  • Co-host and producer of "The Postmodern Commotion," a weekly radio program. CKUT 90.3 FM, Montréal, 1987-92.
  • "Read my Blips" electroacoustic music piece. International Radio Conference, McGill University, Montreal, July 1991.
  • "Hysterical Male" radio art piece. AccompaNew Yorking the book of the same name by Arthur and Marilouise Kroker. St. Martin's Press. New York, December 1990.
  • Radia 89.9FM, Radio station manager. Banff Centre, Alberta, May-November 1990.
  • "Becoming Nobody" electroacoustic music piece.
  • CBC Radio, Printemps Electroacoustique. Montreal, April 1990.
  • SAW Gallery, Radio Art Exhibition. Ottawa, June 1990.
  • "Panic Encyclopedia Cassette," co-creator with Arthur and Marilouise Kroker.
  • New World Perspectives. Montreal, August 1989.


OTHERS

  • Co-creator and organizer, "Life x.0" International art and a-life competition, Madrid, 1998-ongoing. Sponsored by the Telefónica Foundation.
  • International Advisory Committee, Inter-Society for the Electronic Arts, ISEA, ongoing.
  • Jury member, Leonardo Artnodes, Barcelona 2005.
  • Jury member, Transitios_MX festival, Mexico 2005.
  • Jury member, Fusedspace competition, Netherlands 2004.
  • Research and Creativity Committee, Hexagram, Montreal, 2003.
  • Jury member, Latinamerican Experimental Hypermedia Center, Buenos Aires, 2003.
  • Living in Mixed Realities, GMD conference, International Committe, Bonn 2001.
  • Jury member, Fondation Daniel Langlois, Montréal 2001.
  • "System for 3D tracking of a remote point" International Patent, with Will Bauer.WIPO # 9814798A1, January 1998.
  • Chair and co-organizer, 5th International Conference on Cyberspace
  • "5Cyberconf," Madrid June 96. Sponsored by the Art and Technology Foundation.
  • Prix Milia d'Or, Grand Jury. Cannes, France, January 1995.
  • "Arte Virtual, 12 Propuestas de Arte Reactivo," curator. Madrid. May 1994.
  • Video ARCO '93, jury member. Madrid, February 1993.


GRANTS AND PRIZES

  • BAFTA British Academy Award for Interactive Art 2005, London, UK.
  • Trophée des Lumiéres, Lyon 2003.
  • Best Interactive Installation, HorizonZero, Banff, Canada 2003.
  • World Technology Network Award for the Arts, San Francisco 2003.
  • Rockefeller-Ford Fellowship, New York 2003.
  • Production grant from the Daniel Langlois Foundation, Montréal 2003.
  • Artist/Performer of the year, Wired Magazine Rave Awards, San Francisco 2003.
  • Foreign Affairs ACA Grant, Canada 2003.
  • International Bauhaus Award 2002, 1st Prize, Dessau, Germany.
  • BAFTA British Academy Award for Interactive Art 2002, London, UK.
  • Gold Award, Interactive Media Design Review 2002, I.D. Magazine, USA.
  • Ars Electronica 2002, Interactive Art Distinction, Linz, Austria.
  • Media Arts Grant, Canada Council for the Arts, 2001.
  • Excellence Award, Media Arts Festival 2000, CG Arts, Tokyo, Japan.
  • Medienkunstpreis 2000, Finalist, ZKM, Karlsruhe.
  • Ars Electronica 2000, Interactive Art Golden Nica, Linz, Austria.
  • SFMOMA Webby Awards 2000, Distinction, San Francisco.
  • Ars Electronica 1998, Interactive Art Honorable Mention, Linz, Austria.
  • Interactive Digital Media Awards 1996, Best Installation, Toronto, Canada.
  • Cyberstar, 2nd Prize, Köln, Germany. June 1995.
  • Ars Electronica 1995, Interactive Art Honorable Mention, Linz, Austria.
  • Canada Council Computer Integrated Media Grant, 1994.
  • ICEX España, Travel Grant, 1993.
  • Communications Canada, Equipment Grant, 1993.
  • External Affairs Canada, Travel Grant, 1992.
  • Canada Council Touring Office Grant, 1991.
  • Canadian Consulate Grant, New York, 1991.
  • Ministère des Affaires culturelles du Québec, bourse circulation, 1991.
  • Canada Council Computer Integrated Media Grant, 1990.


COLLECTIONS

  • Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation, Miami
  • Colección de Arte de la Comunidad de Madrid, Madrid
  • Daros Foundation, Zürich
  • FRAC Collection Aquitaine, Bordeaux
  • Jumex Collection, Mexico City
  • MUCA, Mexico City
  • MUSAC, León
  • Museum of Modern Art, New York
  • Tate Collection, London