Rafael Lozano-Hemmer was born in Mexico City in 1967. In 1989 he received a B.Sc. in Physical Chemistry from ConcordiaUniversity in Montréal, Canada.

An electronic artist, developing large-scale interactive installations in public space, usually deploying new technologies and custom-made physical interfaces. Using robotics, projections, sound, internet and cell-phone links, sensors and other devices, his installations aim to provide "temporary antimonuments for alien agency". His work has been commissioned for events such as the Millennium Celebrations in Mexico City (1999), the Cultural Capital of Europe in Rotterdam (2001), the United Nations' World Summit of Cities in Lyon (2003), the opening of the Yamaguchi Centre for Art and Media in Japan (2003) and the Expansion of the European Union in Dublin (2004).

His work in kinetic sculpture, responsive environments, video installation and photography has been shown in two dozen countries, including Art Basel Unlimited (Switzerland), the Sydney Biennale (Australia), the Liverpool Biennial (UK), the Shanghai Biennial (China), the Itaú Cultural (Brazil), the Istanbul Biennial (Turkey), the ARCO art fair (Spain), Bienal de la Habana (Cuba), Architecture and Media Biennale (Austria), Laboratorio Arte Alameda (Mexico), the Musée des Beaux Arts (Canada), European Media Art Festival (Germany) and others. His work is in private and public contemporary art collections such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Jumex collection in Mexico and the Daros Foundation in Zürich.

At the Prix Ars Electronica in Austria, his pieces have received a Golden Nica, a distinction and two honourable mentions. He also won two BAFTA British Academy Awards for Interactive Art in London, "Best Installation" at the IDMA awards in Toronto, a "Design Review Gold Award" given by I.D. Magazine, a Cyberstar award in Cologne, a distinction at the SFMOMA Webby Awards in San Francisco, "Artist/performer of the year" at Wired Magazine's Rave Awards, an Excellence Prize at the CG Arts Media Art Festival in Tokyo, WTN award in the Arts Category, a Rockefeller fellowship, a Langlois Grant, the Trophée des Lumières in Lyon, HorizonZero best interactive installation and an International Bauhaus Award in Dessau, Germany.