Maria Lalou
Arts and Creative IndustriesDoctor of Philosophy, University of Westminster
Maria Lalou is a conceptual artist, experimental filmmaker, and occasional writer whose practice explores the act of viewing through the use of cinematic apparatus and surveillance as artistic tools. Her work operates at the edge of social experiment, staging installations through the lens of the theory of the spectacle. Her research focuses on the role of the camera apparatus: its significance in the commons, its personification in the private sphere, its appropriation within the surveillance of everyday networked reality, and its potential as a weapon of truth in the recording of history. Across her continuous inquiry into the role of institutions and their tools, she examines the institution of Art itself in dialogue with the role of the artist and, as a third element, the political role of the viewer. Large-scale installations, performances, films, and publications characterize her practice, which has been presented internationally.
Lalou has received a number of grants and awards and has presented her work internationally through exhibitions, publications, and lectures. Her work has been described as violent and boring, yet critically awakening. She is the author of three monographs: [theatro] (Onomatopee, Eindhoven, 2015), the camera (Dolce Publications, Athens, 2019), and [UN]FINISHED – Atlas of Athens’ Incomplete Buildings: A Story of Hidden Antimonuments (Jap Sam Books, Prinsenbeek, 2023), co-authored with architect Skafte Aymo-Boot.
Since 2012, Lalou and Aymo-Boot have collaborated on the collective project [UN]FINISHED, a multifaceted investigation into the concrete skeletons of Athens. Together, they also founded and co-direct Cross Section Archive, an art centre in Athens (2020–), which explores how historical facts, political structures, and everyday circumstances interfere with, co-produce, and direct Art and Architecture. Lalou holds a Doctor of Philosophy through a PhD by Published Works from CREAM, University of Westminster, and lives in Amsterdam and Athens.