Blanca Gallery Berlin presents "Scale 1" for the opening of Madrid Gallery Weekend
Sep 12, 2022
White Gallery Berlin
Isabel Muñoz (Barcelona, Spain, 1951)
For more than forty years, Isabel Muñoz (Barcelona, 1951) has travelled the world with her camera, capturing human feelings in their purest form. From the dignity of primitive tribes to the despair of prisons; from the sensuality of dance to the denunciation of oppression; from the ecstasy that overcomes pain to the torment that can no longer be overcome.
In 2016 she was awarded the National Photography Prize, having previously won such prestigious awards as the World Press Photo 1999 and 2004, the Bartolomé Ross, the Unicef Spain, the Gold Medal for Merit in Fine Arts in 2009, the Community of Madrid Award, etc. In 2018 she was one of those invited by the Friends of the Museo del Prado Foundation to reflect on the artistic and historical wealth of the museum, creating two exclusive pieces for its collection. Recently, she has been elected a member of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando in the New Image Arts section.
His images are part of the most important public and private collections around the world, including the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid, Foto Colectania in Barcelona, Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris and the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York.
Scale 1
The Catalan photographer shares with us her most recent projects, some of which have never been seen before in our country, such as the series Los españoles (The Spaniards) which inspired the title of the exhibition, in reference to the harmony of proportions characteristic of purebred Spanish horses. Philip II gave rise to this lineage with the aim of representing in the equine the qualities that, according to the monarch, should adorn the Spanish knight. For Muñoz, this quadruped is a noble, brave animal that also dances, maintaining that intimate connection with its rider that has earned it the epithet “healer”. The use of 24-carat gold to capture its elegance leaves us with a selection of small treasures that hide a vibrant spiritual beat: in many religions, especially Hindu and Buddhist, the faithful offer sheets of gold to their gods to beg for their mercy.
The search for the origins of the human being is another of the recurring themes in his career and in Scale 1 He approaches it with the two images of sacred trees that announce the direction that his future research will take. On this occasion, he experiments with the chine collé , a 19th century technique that offers chromatic variations and textures of remarkable delicacy.
The exhibition also includes several works of video art and images of a retrospective nature, some unpublished, others especially recognized, using in many cases the platinum type , one of the most illustrious expressions of photographic art, in whose execution Isabel Muñoz occupies a prominent international place.
As a final touch to the exhibition, emphasizing the artist's innovative spirit, a collection of jewelry based on fragments of her photographs is on display, created by herself in collaboration with the Malicia goldsmith studio and workshop.
