He is a prominent Spanish photographer who portrayed the social and cultural changes experienced since the 1980s in Spain. At the age of eleven he moved with his family to live in Madrid, where he currently resides. His artistic career began at the age of 20, in 1976 we already find his first negatives. At the beginning of the eighties he held his first individual exhibitions in Madrid galleries such as the Galería Buades or the Moriarty and in international ones such as the Portfolio Gallery in London. It should be mentioned that in 1999 he was awarded the National Photography Prize. From 2003 to 2006 he lived in Paris, where he created a trilogy that brings together photography and video. Since then, video has also been a discipline that he has developed.
Regarding his work we must highlight his vision from an autobiographical perspective and opposed to stereotypes. His photographs are direct, daring, critical and reflective, they are also characterized by always being in black and white. They tell stories and realities of a specific context as we can see in the 4 works that we keep in our collection. Self-portrait, a small love story (1994), highlights the importance of practising safe sex and, given its date, reminds us of the recent 1980s marked by HIV. Others, such as Woman (1997) or At ground level (1997), remind us of these marginal women, made invisible by a society that wants to remain unblemished. It is also interesting how she captures less mediatic aspects of the cultural agitation of Madrid in the 1980s, while portraying her surroundings, friends, characters of the time (such as the singer Camarón) and landscapes of her life (such as those she saw on her many trips around the world: Tangier, Bali, Cuba, Mexico, New York…). Without a doubt, her photography marked the generation of the “Movida Madrileña”. In recent years she has exhibited in important venues such as the Maison Européene de la Photographie in Paris, the Photographers’ Gallery in London or the Museo del Prado. Currently, in addition to being a photographer, he is co-founder of the publishing house Cabeza de Chorlito, together with Frédérique Bangerter. Regarding his current style, the artist has evolved towards more abstract and poetic positions.
The Suñol Soler Collection preserves five of his works: A portrait of the gallery owner Fernando Vijande (1982) and a photograph Untitled (1998) that would be related to the three previously mentioned. His works were exhibited at the Fundació Suñol in the collective exhibition entitled ‘Diálogos de la mirada’ in 2016.
List of artworks
Mujer , 1997
A ras del suelo , 1997
Sense títol , 1998
Sense títol , 1998
Fernando Vijande , 1982
Mujer , 1997
Fernando Vijande , 1982
A ras del suelo , 1997
Sense títol , 1998
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