Identity area
Type of entity
Person
Authorized form of name
Medina, Luis
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
1942-1985
History
Luis Medina was born on June 18, 1942, in Havana, Cuba. During his childhood, he attended a private military school until he left Cuba for Spain at the age of sixteen in 1958. There, he was introduced to the arts, such as painting and literature, by Cuban poet Gastón Baquero. Medina traveled and worked throughout Europe, visiting Germany and Italy. He migrated to Miami, Florida, in 1961, and was reunited with his mother and stepfather, who had fled Cuba after Fidel Castro’s government came to power. He attended Miami Dade Junior College and took courses in history, philosophy, and sociology. Upon graduating with honors in 1967, Medina enrolled in The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) with dreams of becoming a sculptor. He was accompanied at SAIC by his childhood friend José López, and the two were quickly taken in by American mentors Harold Allen and Hugh Edwards.
Medina soon turned his artistic interests to the medium of photography, which he practiced alongside López until his friend’s departure to Miami in 1976. The two taught photography together in the early 1970s at Columbia College - Chicago and other local universities. Medina remained in Chicago, where he developed a growing body of photographic work that focused on architectural photography and documenting marginalized groups, such as the Latinx and gay communities in the Chicago area. In one acclaimed series, Medina captured the inner workings of the gang population, photographing their graffiti while simultaneously earning their respect. In 1980, this work was exhibited in a solo show at the Art Institute.
Medina was diagnosed with a cytomegalovirus infection in 1984; this illness can often be associated with AIDS. A year later, he died at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami at the age of forty-three.
Places
Cuba; Spain; Germany; Italy; Miami; Chicago.
Legal status
Functions, occupations and activities
Photographer
Mandates/sources of authority
Internal structures/genealogy
General context
Relationships area
Access points area
Subject access points
Place access points
Occupations
Control area
Authority record identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS).
Status
Final
Level of detail
Full
Dates of creation, revision and deletion
Biographical note by Allegra G. Garcia, April 2020. Updated by Juan A. Villanueva, April 2020, and Amanda Moreno, October 2020.
Language(s)
- English
Script(s)
Sources
Travis, David. "Facts and Fables by Luis Medina, Photographer." Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago, 1993. https://lakeimagesweb.artic.edu/assets/fcb07cf8-151c-bba4-03c4-5abacc32aa32
"Luis Medina, 43; Photographed the Architecture of Chicago." Chicago Tribune. 1985 October 16. https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1985-10-16-8503100590-story.html
Furlani, Sasha. "The Luis Medina Archive at the Art Institute of Chicago." (MA Thesis). Toronto: Ryerson University, 2017. https://digital.library.ryerson.ca/islandora/object/RULA%3A7191