Biography

Lou’s work is at first mesmerizing and breathtakingly beautiful, millions of hand-placed glass beads covering surfaces such as appliances, security fences, and barbed wire. It is only when one begins to look more closely at the themes of Lou’s work that one understands the seriousness of her subject matter, such as pleasure, pain, vulnerability, captivity, and injustice, both personal and political.

In 2002, Lou received the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Fellowship. It was also during this time that Lou expanded her Los Angeles studio and moved to Durban, South Africa to not only create her most recent series of sculptures and reliefs, but to “find another way of working, one which can make a substantial difference to other people’s lives,” as Lou describes. Working with 30 Zulu artisans in a non-profit Centre in downtown Durban, Lou continues her efforts to develop an economically sustainable project, while creating truly magnificent and original artworks.

Lou has exhibited in numerous museums and galleries around the world, including, The New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles; Minneapolis Institute of Arts Minneapolis; Deste Foundation for Contemporary Art, Athens, Greece; Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo; Santa Monica Museum of Art, Santa Monica; and Smithsonian Institution of American Art, Washington, D.C.

The artist currently lives and works in Los Angeles and South Africa.