Art Madrid'23 – TONI CATANY THE MOMENT PICKER

Portrait of Toni Catany © Adriá Pujol, 2008

 

 

Antoni Catany Jaume (Lluchmayor 1942- Barcelona 2013) was a Spanish photographer of recognized world-wide prestige that stood out for capturing classic subjects like the still lifes, the nude or the urban landscape. Catany has published a large number of photographic projects such as "Calotips", "Toni Catany, l'artista en el paradis" or "Obscura memòria". He has also received lot of awards and prizes, such as the Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, awarded by the French Ministry of Culture (1991), and the National Photography Prize, awarded by the Ministry of Education And Culture in 2001.

 

 

Still life of Toni Catany. India, 2009. Exhibition in La Pedrera

 

 

Self-taught, it all started when he moved to Barcelona in 1960 to start his studies in Chemical Sciences. He also began his career as a photographer doing travel reports. But he did not follow the line of photojournalism as such, but began to build his own brand. Already in 1972, did his first exhibition. Seven years later he became known worldwide and began to use the technique of "calotype", thanks to this method invented by Talbot in 1839, his landscapes came to life and the still lifes along with the portrait were stained of that homesickness that so much desire the lovers of photography.

 

 

Alexis.Cuba, 1997. Toni Catany

 

 

The exhibition consists of 40 photographs that relate in an open and sincere way the whole trajectory of the artist. From 1967 until the last series in 2009 "profane altars" and "Some still lifes" in 2012. To complement this exhibition have been exhibited objects that are associated with the personality of the artist himself and his travels. Toni Catany, is a reference in the world of photography thanks to the clarity of his works. Based on traditional photography, his photographs reveal that strong artistic vocation that has consolidated him in the artistic world.

 

 

Photograph of Toni Catany 1997

 

 

This tireless researcher of the some photographic techniques, he knew to alternate the most contemporary with the most traditional techniques. In his later years, he used a digital camera, which allowed him to reproduce the range of purest colors. This is the legacy that leaves us this great artist, that you can enjoy until the 15 of January.

 

 

 

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.