Lake Verea

Biography

Lake Verea is a queer artist duo formed in 2005, consisting of Francisca Rivero-Lake Cortina (born 1973) and Carla Verea Hernández(born 1978), both from Mexico City. Their artistic collaborative practice focuses on expanded photography, integrating various media such as installation, textiles, performance, and video. Through this hybrid approach, Lake Verea experiments with photographic techniques and formats to create intimate and personal portraits, often questioning authorship and exploring themes of memory, portraiture, modern architecture, and the exploration of artists’ archives. Working across both analog and digital platforms—from 19th-century cameras to iPhones—they select their tools in response to each project’s demands. Frequently, they photograph simultaneously using two cameras, exchanging them mid-session to dissolve individual authorship and emphasize their identity as a duo. In some bodies of work, they inhabit personas during research and shooting, generating alternate narratives that subvert linear or canonical histories. At the heart of their work is a search for intimacy and storytelling—a commitment to seeing differently, to revealing overlooked details and proposing personal counter-histories through image-making. In 2019, Lake Verea presented Uno a Uno Bellas Artes, an exhibition and artist book that explored the iconic Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City. The series featured one-to-one scale reproductions of architectural fragments, installed within the Museum of the Palace. Three pieces from this series were acquired by the Committee on Photography Fund of The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), and will be featured in the upcoming New Photography 2025 exhibition.

Biography

Lake Verea is a queer artist duo formed in 2005, consisting of Francisca Rivero-Lake Cortina (born 1973) and Carla Verea Hernández (born 1978), both from Mexico City.

Grants and Awards

2013

Premio de Adquisición Colección Purificación García (Acquisition Award), Madrid, Spain

2008

Premio Retrato XIII Bienal de Fotografía del Centro de la Imagen (Carla Verea), Mexico City, Mexico

2007

International Photography Award, British Journal of Photography, London, UK

2005

Primer lugar como retrato en serie, VI Bienal de Fotoperiodismo Centro de la Imagen (first place for portrait series), Mexico City, Mexico

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2025

Nuits Sauvages chez Barragán, Bendana Pinel Art Contemporain, Paris, France

Paparazza Moderna: Lovers and Frenemies 1921–1967/2011–2025, Yale Architecture Gallery, New Haven, CT, USA

2024

Sonríe, Clic, Galería La Caja Negra, Madrid, Spain

2023

Pupilas Dilatadas, Aparador I EDAI, Mexico City, Mexico

2022

Mamut en el Museo Amparo, Museo Amparo, Puebla, Mexico

Día y Noche, Memoria en Línea, Museo Amparo, Puebla, Mexico

2×2 Albers Lake Verea, Galería Proyecto Paralelo, Mexico City, Mexico

2021

Argent, Bendana Pinel Art Contemporain, Paris, France

Bloom, AGO-Photo by AGO-Projects, Mexico City, Mexico

2019

Uno a Uno Bellas Artes, Museo Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico City, Mexico

Paparazza Moderna, Vitra Design Museum Gallery, Weil am Rhein, Germany

Memoria en Línea, La Nueva Fábrica, Santa Ana, La Antigua, Guatemala

2018

Paparazza Moderna. Schindler y Neutra en California, Capitulo II, Galería Proyecto Paralelo, Mexico City, Mexico

Memoria en Línea, La Nueva Fábrica, La Antigua, Guatemala

2017

Hay que Dar para Recibir, Carlos Mérida 1954 a 1968, NuMu Nuevo Museo de Arte Moderno, Guetamala City, Guatemala

Paparazza Moderna. Schindler y Neutra en California, Capitulo I, Galeria La Caja Negra, Madrid, Spain

2016

Paparazza Modern. Gropius y Breuer de Dessau a Nueva Inglaterra. Capitulo I., Proyecto Paralelo, Mexico City, Mexico

2014

Cuartos Obscuros, Barragán en Penumbra, Casa Luis Barragán, Mexico City, Mexico

2009

(In)Seguridad, tipos de guardaespaldas en América Latina, Museo Álvarez Bravo, Oaxaca, Mexico

2007

(In)Seguridad, tipos de guardaespaldas en América Latina, Association of Photographers Gallery, London, UK

Selected Group Exhibitions

2025

New Photography 2025: Lines of belonging, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, USA

Le Fils Rouge, Galería Proyecto Paralelo, Mexico City, Mexico

El hilo conductor. Historias en la colección de arte contemporáneo, Museo Amparo, Puebla, Mexico

Reflejos de Zohn, Casa Cristo Sede del Colegio de Arquitectos, Jalisco, Mexico

2024

Lights for winter, Bendana | Pinel Art Contemporain, Paris, France

Casa ideal, Proyectos Multipropósito, Mexico City, Mexico

Construir, habitar, crear. 10 años de trabajo en comunidad, Collection Casa Wabi, Colegio de San Idelfonso, Mexico City, Mexico

Destructive Desires and Other Destinies of Excess, Blackwood Gallery at University of Toronto, Mississauga, Canada

2023

BPAC Photo, Bendana | Pinel Art Contemporain, Paris, France

Mexichrome, Museo Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico City, Mexico

Reflejos de Zohn, Museo de la Cuidad de México, Mexico City, Mexico

Black Mountain College and Mexico translation in motion, Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center, Asheville, NC, USA

Seeking Zohn, MAK Center for Art and Architecture, Los Angeles, CA, USA

2022

Bitácoras: Colección Fundación Casa Wabi, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Querétaro, Querétaro, Mexico

Rizo dreams, Dog & Pony, Spokane, WA, USA

2021

6 Días de Frottage en pareja sobre la Piel de Barragán, Zona Maco Patio en Casa Ortega, Mexico City, Mexico

Normal Exceptions, Museo Jumex, Mexico City, Mexico

2020

Elles x Paris Photo, Bendana Pinel Art Contemporain, Paris, France

Los Objetos en el espejo están más cerca de lo wue parece, Museo Autoservicio, Mexico City, Mexico

Pasajeros 04: Anni Albers, Museo Jumex, Mexico City, Mexico

2019

La Déesse Verte, Lille3000, Lille, France

Los Círculos de Mathias Goeritz, Galería La Caja Negra, Madrid, Spain

2018

Podría ser (una Flecha): una lectura de la Colección Jumex, Museo Jumex, Mexico City, Mexico

Echoes of a Land, 16th Venice Architecture Biennale, Mexican Pavilion, Venice, Italy

Hay Futbol, Proyecto Paralelo, Mexico City, Mexico

2017

Guatemala from 33.000 Km, Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA

Mapas en Construcción. Colecciones públicas de arte contemporáneo, 2009-2017, La Tallera Siqueiros, Cuernavaca, Mexico

2016

Architecture of Color: The Legacy of Luis Barragán, Gallery Timothy Taylor, New York, NY, USA

Cuartos Obscuros, Barragán en Penumbra, Dubai Photo Exhibition, Dubai, U.A.E

Impossible Worlds: The Early Works of Pedro Friedeberg, Riverside Museum, Glasgow, Scotland

Camino Real no existe, Archivo Diseño y Arquitectura, Mexico City, Mexico

2015

Persistencias II, MUCA Roma, Mexico City, Mexico

Objectsfoodrooms, (repeat the same and its no longer the same), Proyecto Paralelo, Mexico City, Mexico

El estado de las cosas, FotoMuseo 4Caminos, Mexico City, Mexico

La cuarta dimensión, Instituto de Visión, Bogota, Columbia

Plenilunio, Proyecta Oaxaca, Jardín Etnobotánico, Oaxaca, Mexico

2014

Colectiva de Verano, Galería Proyecto Paralelo, Mexico City, Mexico

Estudio Abierto #3, Index of victory, MAZ Museo de Arte de Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico

2013

The extraordinary within the Ordinary, 13th Pingyao International Photography Festival, Wuhan Museum, Pingyao, China

2012

Lago Asfaltado, Museo Archivo de la Fotografia, Mexico City, Mexico

Permanencia Sismos del 85, Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City, Mexico

2011

Max Cetto y Félix Candela, Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City, Mexico

Mayami Son Machín, Diet Gallery, Miami, FL, USA

Incidentes de viaje espejo en Yucatán y otros lugares, Museo Tamayo, Mexico City, Mexico

2010

Incidentes de Viaje en Centro América, Chiapas Yucatán y otros lugares, Centro Cultural de España, Guatemala City, Guatemala

Proyecto Zócalo, Museo de la Cuidad de México, Mexico City, Mexico

2009

(In)Seguridad Tipo de Guardaespaldas en America Latina, Centro de la Imagen, Mexico City, Mexico

Barragán en Contexto, Seoul Art Center, Seoul, South Korea

2008

Barragán en Contexto, Museo de la Cuidad de México, Mexico City, Mexico

Selected Bibliography

2024

Black Mountain College Mexico, Black Mountain College Museum, Asheville, NC, USA

2021

Anni and Josef Albers. Lake Verea, Hatje Cantz. Ed. Karen Stein, Text by Lake Verea and Brenda Danilowitz, Graphic Design by Rutger Fuchs

2020

Uno a Uno Bellas Artes Lake Verea, Museo Palacio de Bellas Artes, Text by Estela Treviño, María Minera, Fabiola Iza, Lake Verea

2018

Echoes of a Land, 16th International Architecture Biennale Venice, Mexico Pavilion, Venice, Italy

2014

Contemporary Art Mexico, Ed. Hossein Amirsadeghi, Thames and Hudson, London, UK

Shooting Space, Ed. Elias Redstone, Phaidon Press, London, UK

2013

Phaidon Atlas of Contemporary World Architecture, Max Cetto 4 Estudios

2012

A través de la máscara retrato fotográfico en México, Pablo Ortiz Monasterio y Vesta Mónica Herrerías en Colaboración con Alfonso Morales, Fundación Televisa y Aperture Foundation

2011

Altex, un grupo 100% Mexicano, Editorial concept Daniela Rocha

Arquitectura Escolar SEP 90 años, Ed. Axel Araño, National Council for Culture and Art and Fragonard 70

2010

Silverio, Escalvo (Book and Vinyl)

Luis Barragán in perspective, Exh. Cat., Seoul ArtCenter, Seoul, South Korea

Collections

Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, USA

JPMorganChase Corporate Art Collection, New York, NY, USA

Colección Museo Amparo, Puebla, Mexico

Collection Soho House, Mexico City, Mexico

Collection Fundación Casa Wabi, Mexico City, Mexico

Collection Jumex, Mexico City, Mexico

Collection Museo Rufino Tamayo Arte Contemporáneo, Mexico City, Mexico

Collection Museo del Estanquillo, Mexico City, Mexico

Barragan Foundation, Basel, Switzerland

Collection Petitgas, London, UK

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