Dmitri Kessel. "Henri Cartier-Bresson and his Leica M3", 1955. Vintage silver gelatin photograph. 34 x 26,5 cm

Dmitri Kessel. "Henri Cartier-Bresson and his Leica M3", 1955. Vintage silver gelatin photograph. 34 x 26,5 cm

Installation view

Installation view

Leo Matiz. "Frida Kahlo. Xochimilco", ca. 1941. Silver gelatin. 25 x 20 cm.

Leo Matiz. "Frida Kahlo. Xochimilco", ca. 1941. Silver gelatin. 25 x 20 cm.

Philippe Bonan. "Keith Haring", 1989. Vintage photograph, silver gelatin. 30,5 x 24 cm.

Philippe Bonan. "Keith Haring", 1989. Vintage photograph, silver gelatin. 30,5 x 24 cm.

Leo Matiz. "Siqueiros", ca. 1946. Vintage photograph, silver gelatin. 30 x 24 cm.

Leo Matiz. "Siqueiros", ca. 1946. Vintage photograph, silver gelatin. 30 x 24 cm.

Leo Matiz. "Siqueiros", 1945. Vintage photograph, silver gelatin. 40,5 x 30,5 cm.

Leo Matiz. "Siqueiros", 1945. Vintage photograph, silver gelatin. 40,5 x 30,5 cm.

Armando Salas Portugal. "Mathias Goeritz y Pilar Pellicer en el edificio El Eco, junto a los dibujos murales de Henri Moore", 1953. Vintage photograph, silver gelatin. 25 x 19 cm.

Armando Salas Portugal. "Mathias Goeritz y Pilar Pellicer en el edificio El Eco, junto a los dibujos murales de Henri Moore", 1953. Vintage photograph, silver gelatin. 25 x 19 cm.

Installation view

Installation view

André Villers. "Le Corbusier close up paintings", 1955. Vintage photograph, analog black and white development. 30 x 24,5 cm.

André Villers. "Le Corbusier close up paintings", 1955. Vintage photograph, analog black and white development. 30 x 24,5 cm.

Gisèle Freund. "Le Corbusier", ca. 1960. Vintage photograph, silver gelatin, ca. 1980. 25,5 x 20 cm.

Gisèle Freund. "Le Corbusier", ca. 1960. Vintage photograph, silver gelatin, ca. 1980. 25,5 x 20 cm.

Aldo Palazzi. "Luis Buñuel. El diario de una camarera", 1964. Vintage photograph. 30 x 20 cm.

Aldo Palazzi. "Luis Buñuel. El diario de una camarera", 1964. Vintage photograph. 30 x 20 cm.

Ana Arabaolaza, "La mirada (Alberto García-Alix y Antonio Bartrina)", 1984. Vintage photograph, silver gelatin. 33 x 48,5 cm.

Ana Arabaolaza, "La mirada (Alberto García-Alix y Antonio Bartrina)", 1984. Vintage photograph, silver gelatin. 33 x 48,5 cm.

Installation view

Installation view

Gisèle Freund. "J.P. Sartre y Simone de Beauvoir", 1964. Vintage photograph, silver gelatin. 21,7 x 19,7 cm

Gisèle Freund. "J.P. Sartre y Simone de Beauvoir", 1964. Vintage photograph, silver gelatin. 21,7 x 19,7 cm

Gisèle Freund. "Simone de Beauvoir", ca. 1954-1960. Vintage photograph, silver gelatin. 30,4 x 25,5 cm.

Gisèle Freund. "Simone de Beauvoir", ca. 1954-1960. Vintage photograph, silver gelatin. 30,4 x 25,5 cm.

Gisèle Freund. "Simone de Beauvoir", ca. 1954. Vintage photograph, silver gelatin. 25,5 x 17,8 cm.

Gisèle Freund. "Simone de Beauvoir", ca. 1954. Vintage photograph, silver gelatin. 25,5 x 17,8 cm.

Gisèle Freund. "Elsa Triolet", 1939. Vintage photograph, silver gelatin, ca. 1960. 24,8 x 16,5 cm.

Gisèle Freund. "Elsa Triolet", 1939. Vintage photograph, silver gelatin, ca. 1960. 24,8 x 16,5 cm.

Alberto García-Alix. "Camaron", 1991. Vintage photography, analog development. 49,5 x 49,5 cm.

Alberto García-Alix. "Camaron", 1991. Vintage photography, analog development. 49,5 x 49,5 cm.

Gisèle Freund. "Colette con su marido Bertrand de Jouvenel", ca. 1954-1960. Vintage photograph, silver gelatin. 20,2 x 29,8 cm.

Gisèle Freund. "Colette con su marido Bertrand de Jouvenel", ca. 1954-1960. Vintage photograph, silver gelatin. 20,2 x 29,8 cm.

Leo Matiz. "Maudelle Bass, modelo americana en México", ca. 1943. Contact. Silver gelatin. 5,7 x 5,9 cm.

Leo Matiz. "Maudelle Bass, modelo americana en México", ca. 1943. Contact. Silver gelatin. 5,7 x 5,9 cm.

Cecil Beaton. "Greta Garbo", 1946. Vintage photograph, silver gelatin. 23,5 x 30 cm.

Cecil Beaton. "Greta Garbo", 1946. Vintage photograph, silver gelatin. 23,5 x 30 cm.

José Antonio Hernández-Diez. "Pensadores (Mao)", 2000. Color photograph. 160 x 160 cm.

José Antonio Hernández-Diez. "Pensadores (Mao)", 2000. Color photograph. 160 x 160 cm.

Installation view

Installation view

Marcelo Brodsky. "Inteligencia – Interrogatorio 001-002", 1979. Diptych. Digital photography. 30 x 19,8 cm / 20 x 29,91 cm.

Marcelo Brodsky. "Inteligencia – Interrogatorio 001-002", 1979. Diptych. Digital photography. 30 x 19,8 cm / 20 x 29,91 cm.

Darío Villalba. "Jones [Documento básico]", 1975. Mixed media. 40,5 x 64,5 cm.

Darío Villalba. "Jones [Documento básico]", 1975. Mixed media. 40,5 x 64,5 cm.

Darío Villalba. "Basic Document", 1975. Mixed media. 21,5 x 32 cm.

Darío Villalba. "Basic Document", 1975. Mixed media. 21,5 x 32 cm.

Installation view

Installation view

Concha Jerez. "Ballet de tiempos", 2002. Triptych of digital photomontages in Cibatrans with a high gloss lamination of UVI anti-scratch protection on an aluminum support. 40 x 50 cm each.

Concha Jerez. "Ballet de tiempos", 2002. Triptych of digital photomontages in Cibatrans with a high gloss lamination of UVI anti-scratch protection on an aluminum support. 40 x 50 cm each.

Daniel Canogar. "Lifelines", 2001. Photography, out of print edition, published by EXIT. 26 x 26 cm.

Daniel Canogar. "Lifelines", 2001. Photography, out of print edition, published by EXIT. 26 x 26 cm.

Installation view

Installation view

Álvaro Laiz. "Andrei, Piotr, Kostya, Anatoli, Vasha, Andrei P., Sergei, Alexander", 2016. 8 Video-portraits with Surround 5.1 sound. Soundscape author: José Bautista/Kanseisounds. Duration: 1’30’’ each aprox.

Álvaro Laiz. "Andrei, Piotr, Kostya, Anatoli, Vasha, Andrei P., Sergei, Alexander", 2016. 8 Video-portraits with Surround 5.1 sound. Soundscape author: José Bautista/Kanseisounds. Duration: 1’30’’ each aprox.

Antoni Abad. "The music", Rome, 2015. Edition of 12 numbered and signed folders, each containing 30 Ultrachrome photographs 40 x 29,7 cm, printed on Hahnemühle Photo Rag Bright White cotton photographic 310 g paper.

Antoni Abad. "The music", Rome, 2015. Edition of 12 numbered and signed folders, each containing 30 Ultrachrome photographs 40 x 29,7 cm, printed on Hahnemühle Photo Rag Bright White cotton photographic 310 g paper.

Installation view

Installation view

Ramón Mateos. "Ne Travaillez Jamais", 2008. Installation. 8 photographic prints (RC paper) on foam. 40 x 72 cm each.

Ramón Mateos. "Ne Travaillez Jamais", 2008. Installation. 8 photographic prints (RC paper) on foam. 40 x 72 cm each.

Santiago Sierra. "El pasillo de la Casa del Pueblo. Bucarest, Rumanía", October 2005. B/W photography. 120 x 175 cm.

Santiago Sierra. "El pasillo de la Casa del Pueblo. Bucarest, Rumanía", October 2005. B/W photography. 120 x 175 cm.

Installation view

Installation view

Darío Villalba. "El místico", 1974. Mixed media on photolinen canvas. 250 x 200 cm.

Darío Villalba. "El místico", 1974. Mixed media on photolinen canvas. 250 x 200 cm.

Installation view

Installation view

Nieves Correa. "Los Otros: Nosotros", 2019. Photograph on Hahnemühle Photo Matt Fibre 200 gsm paper mounted on 10 mm KapaFix and framed in glass display case. 54 x 75 cm.

Nieves Correa. "Los Otros: Nosotros", 2019. Photograph on Hahnemühle Photo Matt Fibre 200 gsm paper mounted on 10 mm KapaFix and framed in glass display case. 54 x 75 cm.

Installation view

Installation view

Toni Catany. "Barcelona", 1989. Vintage photograph, selenium-plated silver gelatin. 24 x 30 cm.

Toni Catany. "Barcelona", 1989. Vintage photograph, selenium-plated silver gelatin. 24 x 30 cm.

Marisa González. "Marisa González. Lumena Self-Portrait", 1992-1995. Photo video-computer. Photographs captured from the screen and transferred to color photocopies. Modular sequence of 7 units. 30 x 40 cm each.

Marisa González. "Marisa González. Lumena Self-Portrait", 1992-1995. Photo video-computer. Photographs captured from the screen and transferred to color photocopies. Modular sequence of 7 units. 30 x 40 cm each.

Installation view

Installation view

Matías Costa. "ZONIANS", 2015. 7 digital printing. 19 x 16 cm each.

Matías Costa. "ZONIANS", 2015. 7 digital printing. 19 x 16 cm each.

Mathias Goeritz. "Autorretratos del artista desnudo", ca. 1980. Two Polaroid photographs. 11 x 9 cm each.

Mathias Goeritz. "Autorretratos del artista desnudo", ca. 1980. Two Polaroid photographs. 11 x 9 cm each.

Installation view

Installation view

Installation view of Ximena Bares' works

Installation view of Ximena Bares' works

Ana Laura Aláez. "Creative Powder", 2001. Color photography. 100 x 133 cm.

Ana Laura Aláez. "Creative Powder", 2001. Color photography. 100 x 133 cm.

Fame and Anonymity. Portraits

Varios artistas | Various artists

from May 24, 2022 to July 16, 2022

Fame and Anonymity. Portraits is a group exhibition that is part of the Off Festival of PHotoESPAÑA 2022.

Through different techniques, from traditional silver gelatin to photocopies, we present a journey through the world of (self-)portraiture throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, by the following artists: Antoni Abad, Ana Laura Aláez, Ana Arabaolaza, Ximena Bares, Cecil Beaton, Philippe Bonan, Marcelo Brodsky, Daniel Canogar, Toni Catany, Nieves Correa, Matías Costa, Dmitri Kessel, Gisèle Freund , Alberto García-Alix, Mathias Goeritz, Marisa González, José Antonio Hernández-DiezConcha Jerez, Álvaro LaizRamón Mateos, Leo Matiz, Aldo Palazzi, Armando Salas Portugal, Santiago Sierra, Darío Villalba and André Villers. 

Portraiture has dominated and defined the medium of photography from the very beginning, as seen in the daguerreotypes of mortuary portraits from the mid-19th century. Since its origins, a close link has been established between photography and memory, between photographic traces and portraiture, in its multiple modalities: photographs of famous people, celebrities, anonymous characters, self-portraits, etc. 

This selection of works establishes a dialogue between modern and contemporary art, between Europe and Latin America, between the unknown and the familiar. Anonymity plays an important role in photography also since the beginning, immortalizing shadows, silhouettes and faces of unknown, anonymous people, which contrasts with the ubiquity of the self in the media in the current digital era, where selfies, with their respective names and surnames, have invaded the 21st century landscape, an aspect that has not passed unnoticed by contemporary artists such as the well-known Amalia Ulman with her appropriation of the selfie culture on Instagram. 

Identity and photography have been intertwined since the invention of the photographic medium, establishing a clear union between the body (the self) and technology. Nowadays, this becomes more evident when the camera becomes an inseparable part of our body and our social relationships, like a prosthesis, like an extension of our arm, which accompanies us in our daily lives and turns us into cyborgs, into technobodies in a permanent (self-)portrait. 

As we walk through the exhibition, this union between identity/portraiture and technology/photography becomes visible, through different formats: from social, political and feminist portraits, to intimate self-portraits of the artist masturbating, fragments of bodies or fingerprints, while passing through a set of well-known faces such as that of Frida Kahlo while she lifts a bottle of beer to her lips. 

Text by Jessica Janeiro Obernyer
Art Historian



Press release

Exhibition overview

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