Background
Essaydi was born in Marakkech, Morocco in 1956.
Essaydi was born in Marakkech, Morocco in 1956.
She moved to Boston in 1996 and earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Tufts University in 1999 and her Master of Fine Arts in painting and photography from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in 2003.
She currently works in Boston, Massachusetts and lives in New York City. Essaydi"s work is represented by Howard Yezerski Gallery in Boston and Edwynn Houk Gallery in New York City. She left to attend high school in Paris at 16.
Essaydi returned to Paris in the early 1990s to attend the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts.
Essaydi"s photographic series include Converging Territories (2003–2004), Les Femmes du Maroc (2005–2006), Harem (2009), Harem Revisited (2012–2013), Bullets, and Bullets Revisited (2012–2013). Her work has been exhibited around the world, including at at the National Museum of African Art, and is represented in a number of collections, including the Art Institute of Chicago.
The San Diego Museum of Artist The Cornell Fine Arts Museum, Winter Park, Florida.
The Fries Museum in Leeuwarden, The Netherlands.
The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. And the Williams College Museum of Art in Williamstown, Massachusetts. She was named as #18 in Charchub"s "Top 20 Contemporary Middle Eastern Artists in 2012-2014".
In 2015, the San Diego Museum of Art mounted the exhibition, Lalla Essaydi: Photographs.