Ana Laura López de la Torre is an artist, educator, activist and community organizer who lives and works in Montevideo, Uruguay. She trained initially as a woodcarver and worked in religious sculpture in Madrid before shifting toward conceptual and socially-engaged art. In 1997, she completed an MA in Critical Fine Art Practice at Central St Martins, London. From 1995 to 2012 she lived in South London, where she developed a body of work closely embedded in the social and cultural life of Brixton. She returned to Uruguay in 2012 and has since held several institutional roles focused on contemporary art practice, pedagogy, and cultural management.
Her practice often begins from the overlooked and the ordinary, activating the poetic and political dimensions of everyday life through long-term, participatory, and collaborative processes. Working frequently with other artists, civil society organisations, and non-specialists, her projects address themes including housing, urban segregation, motherhood, antiracism, migration, and extractivism. She favors accessible media such as writing, textiles, drawing, and
live action, and formats that enable open distribution and collective ownership. López de la Torre has realised projects with institutions across Europe and Latin America, including Tate Modern, Whitechapel Gallery, the 9th Mercosur Biennial, and Museo Jumex. She is currently Head Professor at the Facultad de Artes, Universidad de la República, where she directs a department dedicated to socially oriented art practices and serves as Interim Dean.
