ANTINATURA: PEOPLE LANDSCAPES

Madrid: The Antinatura: Paisaje de personas exhibit (April 2-May 31, Aranapoveda Gallery) exposes the work –unpublished in Spain- of half a dozen young artists who photograph the influence of the natural environment on the individual’s daily life. They are Javier Arcenillas (Madrid, Spain, 1973), Susana Anagua (Lisbon, Portugal, 1976), Thibault Brunet (Lille, France, 1982), Ani Kington (Ohio, USA, 1986), Irina Popova (Tver, Russia, 1986) and Will Steacy (Haven, USA, 1980).

This exhibit of photographs, videos and installations interpret the traditional concept of nature photography, redefines the notion of the photographic landscape from fictitious matters to the interiors, based on a diversity of esthetic and conceptual perspectives.

The “Ovnipresencias” essay by Javier Arcenillas –recently accepted as a collaborator for the MAGNUM Agency- intends to single out the places in which, at some moment in time, the presence of weird phenomena has changed the form and the way landscapes are portrayed, providing them with a singular energy that tells them apart from the surroundings.

In the same breath, Whatever will be, by Ani Kington speaks of the interaction between nature and human emotions, of how the environment makes individuals cringe and ends up dominating his or her way of life through the intuitive snapshots that capture a town in Ecuador.

In the video entitled Naturaleza Mecánica by Susana Anagua, there’s a contemplation of civilization dregs splayed on the landscape, pieces that come together and melt into the environment, like windmills that turn into flowers to the wind.

Nature also transforms memories, and in The human satin, by Will Steacy, his images, found in the debris caused by hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, are the living proofs of society’s influence on the environment, some kind of human family scrapbook torn apart by water.

The human landscape is also portrayed in LTP by Irina Popova, who shows us how isolation in society generates a nature of its own, a harsh and realistic document that broaches deep issues on the relationship between man and his environment.

And last but not least, Vice City, by Thibault Brunet, there are landscapes that arouse confusion and blur the lines between the real and the artificial, and force viewers to rethink the ways whereby the environment is represented and the values these representations stand for.

Antinatura: Paisajes de personasis commissioned by Tevi de la Torre as part of an artistic event being held at a number of art galleries in Madrid and entitled “A Tres Bandas”, commissioned by Virginia Torrente.

Source: Press release sent by ARANAPOVEDA Gallery

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