Franklin Sirmans, director of the Pérez Art Museum Miami, chose Lopez from a pool of twelve finalists who were nominated by arts professionals affiliated with Independent Curator International. Sirmans said, "He is an important young voice whose past projects suggest a brilliant future." Lopez is a Peruvian writer, researcher, and cofounder of Red Conceptualismos del Sur—an international research platform that focuses on political experiences and Latin American art in the 1960s and '70s. In 2012, he joined the Lima Art Museum's Contemporary Art Acquisitions Committee and he is a founding member of Bisagra, a curators and artist-led project in Lima, which develops experimental programs and exhibitions. Established in 2010 as an initiative of the Gerrit Lansing Education Fund, the Independent Vision Curatorial Award reflects ICI's commitment to supporting international curators early in their careers who have shown exceptional creativity and prescience in their exhibition-making, research, and related writing. The award, including a $3,000 stipend towards a new project, is given every two years to an early or mid-career curator to support their independent practice through ICI, and give them a platform to pursue and publish their research online. The Independent Vision Curatorial Award is significant in that it is one of the very few awards in the world to recognize rising curatorial talent.