‘HASTA QUE TE CONOCÍ’ A DECADE OF DOCUMENTING BROWN MEXICAN BEAUTY

‘Hasta Que Te Conocí’ brings visibility to Brown Mexican beauty as documented by Dorian Ulises López Macías over a decade during everyday encounters across México. Born in the central state of Aguascalientes, his work brings Mexicans to the forefront of an ongoing void of representation in mainstream media that López Macías fills with his portraits. Expanding his portraiture to include himself, ‘Hasta Que Te Conocí’ is an ode to the sense of joy his portraits bring to the people he shoots and their context of time, geography, sexuality, erotics, social class, and desire.

This first solo show in the United States is on view at LaPau Gallery in Los Angeles through April 16, 2022. The exhibition includes a mix of photography and video montage accompanied by the high energy techno beats of Monterey DJ and music producer, Regal86 whose collaboration adds rhythmic context guiding the audience through over 100 photos. The montage lasts about an hour and is just a glimpse of Mexicano, the Instagram account and archive started by López Macías that has amassed over 50k followers.

Paulina Lara of LaPau Gallery told MATERIA ‘what inspired me about Dorian’s work was how people see themselves through his images and how he sees himself through his photos. The subject is everyday and through Macia’s work its beauty is being celebrated in such a sophisticated, distinct way.’ 

Juxtaposed with a career in fashion, shooting for big brands like Nike, GUCCI México, and H&M—in México City where he now lives—López Macías has brought brands into his vision of representative gender, sexual identities, and lifestyles that match the México he sees.