Lourdes Méndez is Chair of Anthropology of Art at the University of the Basque Country. She studied Anthropology at the University of Paris VIII.

After completing her PhD, she joined as a lecturer to the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of the Basque Country, where she has been Vice-dean of Doctorate Studies and Research (1987-1989) and Vice-dean of International Relations (2004-2009). Her lines of research cover analysis of the field of visual arts from the perspective of materialistic feminism; the problems derived from the design and application of cultural policies at a local and EU level; and the consequences of institutional policies based on the assumption of the so-called ‘gender perspective’ on feminist research.

Lourdes Méndez has written many books and articles. Among the most recent we could highlight: The Feminist Movement in 1980s Spain: Emergence and Fragmentation (2018); Genealogías excluyentes (2016); From The Trap of Difference to That of Excellence: The Women Artists, Their Works and The Artistic Field (2014); Feminismos en movimiento en el Estado español. ¿Re-ampliando el espacio de lo político (2014); Ellos, ‘artistas’ a secas; Ellas, ‘mujeres artistas’; que no es lo mismo (2012); Antropología del campo artístico: Del arte primitivo [...] al contemporáneo (2009); Antropología feminista (2007); Una connivencia implícita: perspectiva de género, empoderamiento y feminismo institucional (2005); Galicia en Europa. El lugar de las artes plásticas en la política cultural de la Xunta (2002).