Lourdes Grobet facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Lourdes Grobet
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Grobet in 2018
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| Born | 25 July 1940 México City, Mexico
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| Died | 15 July 2022 (aged 81) México City, Mexico
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| Known for | Documenting the lucha libre |
| Movement | Grupos |
Lourdes Grobet Argüelles (born July 25, 1940 – died July 15, 2022) was a famous Mexican photographer. She was best known for her amazing pictures of Mexican lucha libre wrestlers.
Before becoming a photographer, Grobet spent some time as a painter. Her interest in photography led her to explore the world of lucha libre. She spent many years getting to know the luchadores (wrestlers) very well. Grobet also worked in theatre and video, and she published several books. Her work was shown in many exhibitions, and she won many awards.
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Early Life and Artistic Beginnings
Lourdes Grobet was born and grew up in México City. She took painting classes at the Academy of San Carlos. Her parents later sent her to study with a Catholic professor named José Suárez Olvera. Grobet felt his work was not very original. This made her think deeply about what art truly is. She realized that for her, art was a language, a way to express ideas. She wanted to find the best way to tell her stories.
Education and New Ideas
Grobet studied plastic arts (which includes painting, sculpture, and design) at the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico. She also studied graphic design and photography in Britain. Her professor, Mathias Goeritz, greatly influenced her. He taught her that mass media (like TV and newspapers) offered new ways to share art.
When Goeritz stopped teaching, he asked Grobet to be his assistant. They worked together on beautiful stained-glass windows for the México City Cathedral. In 1977, she studied in England. She tried landscape painting but found that her teachers did not like her changing the landscapes in her art. They wanted purely documentary photos.
A Career in Photography
Kati Horna first introduced Grobet to photography. However, her early career was also shaped by teachers like Mathias Goeritz and Gilberto Aceves Navarro.
In 1968, Grobet traveled to Paris. This trip completely changed how she saw the art world. She visited many art galleries and discovered kinetic art, which uses movement. This made her interested in working with different types of media. She even worked at a jazz concert, controlling lights and moving projections.
When Grobet returned to Mexico, she decided to focus on photography. She even burned her old artwork to make a fresh start!
In 1981, Grobet released her first set of photographs. Early in her photography career, she joined a group called Consejo Mexicano de Fotografía (Mexican Council of Photography). This group helped bring new life to photography in Mexico, starting a movement called the Grupos. Grobet wanted to focus on art that connected with communities.
Exploring Cultures and People
Grobet spent time with indigenous (native) people during a difficult period for them. She learned about their lives and photographed them in a theatrical way. She wanted to connect with them through art. So, they created their own costumes and scenery, and she took their pictures.
Later, Grobet became interested in the Mayan culture. She went to the suburbs to learn about them, avoiding tourist areas to get real information. She discovered ancient temples built by an unknown civilization. She decided to call them the Olmayazetec temples.
Documenting Lucha Libre
After her education and travels, Grobet returned to México City. She started exploring her childhood interest in luchadores (wrestlers) again. She found that there was very little information about them. So, she decided to make their world more known.
Grobet spent thirty years photographing luchadores and learning about their lives. She took pictures of them inside and outside the wrestling ring. She photographed them in their masks and also in their homes. Grobet wanted to show that they lived normal lives, just like everyone else.
She became very close with famous lucha libre wrestlers like El Santo, Blue Demon, Mil Mascaras, and Octagon. Influenced by her teachers, Grobet took many pictures of El Santo, a very important Mexican wrestler and a hero of lucha libre. He even starred in over 50 films!
Since 1975, Grobet published more than 11,000 photographs of lucha libre. Her work showed how important the sport is to Mexican popular culture. Lucha libre involves many costumes and masks, making it a fun, carnival-like sport that Mexicans love.
Film and Exhibitions
Grobet also made films. In her 2013 movie Bering. Balance and Resistance, she explored the political border between the Big Diomede Island (Russia) and the Little Diomede Island (USA) in the Bering Strait. She showed how this border separated families and the land where the first humans crossed into America.
Grobet had over one hundred exhibitions of her photographs. Her work was shown at the London Mexfest festival in 2012. She won an award at the Second Biennal in Fine Art Photography. In 1975, for an exhibition called Hora y media, she turned a gallery into a photo lab. She developed photos that slowly disappeared as the public watched them under the gallery lights.
She also had an exhibition called Travelling in 1977, where her photos were displayed on an escalator!
Personal Life
Grobet married Xavier Perez Barba in 1962. They had four children together before divorcing in 1974.
Death
Lourdes Grobet passed away on July 15, 2022, in México City.
Her Artistic Approach
When Grobet took photographs, she wanted to understand reality better. She used her photography to "live" and understand different realities, rather than just showing ideas she already had. She was not afraid to use different styles to share her experiences. Grobet used photography to connect with herself, with others, and to show the challenges in Mexico.
Some of Grobet's work was done with others, while she preferred to do some projects alone. When photographing the luchadores, she wanted to show both their tough side and their more gentle, human side. Grobet wanted to uncover the history of lucha libre. She believed it was important to Mexican culture, with links going back to the time of the Aztecs. She felt there wasn't enough information about these fascinating luchadores. She wanted them to get the recognition they deserved as important cultural figures in Mexico.
Awards and Recognition
- 1982: Photographic Biennal award, Mexico
- 1984: Libro Propositivo Award, Mexico
- 1988: Best Monument Award for 20th Anniversary of Tlatelolco massacre, with Proceso Pentagono group, Mexico
- 1988: Best Book Award, Juan Pablos Editions, Mexico
- 1992: International Award, Latin American Emancipation and Identity 1492–1992, contest, Quito, Ecuador
- 1995-1998: Sistema Nacional de Creadores de Arte (SNCA) Grant, Secretariat of Culture, Mexico
- 1996: Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity Residency, Canada
- 1999-2001: SNCA Grant, Secretariat of Culture, Mexico
- 2001: Yaddo Residency, United States
- 2002: MacDowell Residency, United States
- 2003: Bellagio Residency, Italy
- 2005-2006: FONCA grant, Mexico
- 2007: MacDowell Residency, United States
- 2010-2011: FONCA grant, Mexico
Collections of Her Work
Lourdes Grobet's photographs are kept in many important art collections, including:
- Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, USA
- Fundación Cultural Televisa, Mexico
- Centro de la Imagen, México City, Mexico
- Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, USA
- Musée du Quai Branly, Paris, France
- The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, USA
- San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, USA
- Museum of Latin American Art, Long Beach, USA
Images for kids
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Grobet in 2018
