Art Madrid'23 – CRISTINA GARCÍA RODERO AND THE LAND OF DREAMS

Work by Cristina García Rodero “Land of dreams”

 

 

Cristina Garcia Rodero, (Ciudad Real, 1949) is a Spanish photographer who began her career in the late 60's, portraying traditions and cultures in their national beginnings and later around the world. Her reports are stained with a very personal and human vision that captures the essence of those he portrays. It was the first to enter the prestigious agency Magnum and she has received a large number of awards such as the World Press Photo in 1993 or the National Photography Award in 1996.

 

 

Work by Cristina García Rodero “Land of dreams” 

 

 

The exhibition reveals the daily life of women from all sectors and classes of Anantapur in the state of Andhra Pradesh, one of the most disadvantaged areas of India, where marginal communities live. With 80 photographs of varied format Cristina, wants to raise awareness and give visibility to the international cooperation actions carried out by the Vicente Ferrer Foundation in collaboration with the "La Caixa" Obra Social. 

 

 

View of the exhibition

 

 

An initiative narrated through images that address contemporary sensibility and highlight the role of those people who, like the photographer from La Mancha, show their particular vision of seeing the world. Some of the photographs show the hard face of the region, and in fact, the project was not easy to start, as the artist herself says: "When I accepted the commission I thought it would be easy, but when I arrived in the city, I saw it was Horrible, horrible landscapes and the frightful light, and I did not get people to stop chasing me for what I thought, how I'm going to do a good job. "

 

 


Work by Cristina García Rodero “Land of dreams”

 

 

Land of dreams, is the result of a month and a half of experiences that told under the astonished look of the artist, have managed to capture the attention of the observer. The warm and close feeling transmitted by these snapshots makes these mothers, seamstresses, peasants, teachers and students take their leading role in transforming the communities of Anantapur. Its assembly meetings show a memorable activism that together with a solid network of solidarity have made possible protection centers for battered women among other issues.

 

View of the exhibition

 

 

The exhibition can be visited until May 28. Around the exhibition there is an educational workshop entitled "Namasté. A look at India "aimed at middle school and upper elementary school students and ESO. This action helps to bring the young people to a reality different from the one they are familiar with.

 

 

In the year 2020 in the heart of Barcelona a wandering gallery was born, the same one that in February 2021 would debut at Art Madrid with an exhibition proposal focused on contemporary portraits; with this subject matter it would manage to create a powerful dialogue between artwork and audience and make the seal Inéditad remain in the history of the event that contained it.

Jean Carlos Puerto. Protección. Oil and copper leaf on wood. 60 x 48. 2021. Image courtesy of the gallery.

Since that first time and until today, the wandering gallery has managed to build projects on otherness, has repositioned in the spotlight the discourses on the LGTBIQ+ collective, has consolidated a group of artists who share its principles of resilience and empathy and the best thing is that it continues to bet from the professionalism and commitment to give voice to the difference.

Claudio Petit-Laurent.. El Joven de la Perla. Oil on wood. 30 x 30 cm. 2023. Image courtesy of the gallery.

Inéditad Gallery, thanks to its founder Luis López, its collaborators and the infinite possibilities manifested in the works of the artists it represents, is a gallery that has demonstrated its capacity and courage to stimulate the sensibility of the public through art and seduce a generation that moves between the glass window and the analogical story. Inéditad is a nomadic gallery that has gathered around it a community of artists and has moved the context with exhibition projects that think about LGTBIQ+ art without prejudices.

Pepa Salas Vilar. Las marcas del arcoiris. Oil on canvas. 40 x 50 cm. 2022. Image courtesy of the gallery.

Pride and Prejudice was inaugurated. An exhibition that brings together the works of sixteen artists: Abel Carrillo, Alex Domènech, Carlos Enfedaque, Silvia Flechoso, Jamalajama, Daniel Jaén, Claudio Petit-Laurent, Jean Carlos Puerto, Fernando Romero, Pablo Rodríguez, Pepa Salas Vilar, Jack Smith, Pablo Sola, Bran Sólo, Elia Tomás and Utürüo. Painting, illustration, photography and digital art are the manifestations that bring into dialogue around fifty neatly threaded pieces, in a discursive line that discusses such a latent phenomenon as discrimination. To achieve this, the artists invited to the exhibition question themselves whether: Does discrimination exist within the LGTBIQ+ collective?

Pride and Prejudice Official Poster. Image courtesy of the gallery.

With approaches on and from the body, the proposal invites to celebrate diversity, proposes to question and self-question the prejudices and attitudes of society against the collective. Pride and Prejudice is a space for dialogue about the constructs imposed on us by society. It is also an oasis in which to deconstruct with tolerance and respect the subjectivities that sometimes prevent us from approaching the production of the participating artists, simply because "the beautiful" does not fit in an androgynous body. The subjugation of stereotypes are pressed with determination to find the beauty of diversity in other palpable facets of reality.

Pablo Sola. All men are dogs. Photography. 2014. Image courtesy of the gallery.

Throughout these three years Inéditad has stimulated the vindictive projection towards bad practices, has questioned estates around the LGTBIQ+ body and the most admirable thing, is that these capacities have resurfaced around the dialogue and the visual narrative of the stories that are told from the visual: Artworks that are people, art that is, per se, humanity. Overcome impositions and accept what is different in order to continue fighting against homophobia, biphobia, lesbophobia or transphobia and defend the equal rights that all the acronyms of the collective deserve in our community.

That's Pride and Prejudice: One creature, the happiest in the world. And maybe other projects and other people have said it - or felt it - before, but none so fairly.

Silvia Flechoso. Hola, soy maricón. Oil on canvas. 73 x 54 cm. 2023. Image courtesy of the gallery.

From June 8th until June 22nd you can visit Pride and Prejudice. Carrer de Palau núm. 4. Canal Gallery space. Barcelona.