Antonio Banderas

ANTONIO BANDERAS (Málaga, 1960).
Untitled, from the series "Secretos en negro", Málaga, 2010.
Digital photography on paper on Dibond.
Series exhibited at the Cervantes Institute in Madrid in 2010.
Without signature.
Measurements: 75 x 100 cm.

A woman, of whom we only see the bust and the face veiled by a gauze, is dressed in mourning with an attire that mixes vaporous tulle and black silks that wrap her chest. She seems to embody the solemnity of sacrifice. In her hands she wields a bullfighter's rapier, the blade of which points towards her abdomen. The red handle of the rapier stands out as the only chromatic accent in this monochromatic composition, drawing the eye to the center of the body and charging the scene with symbolism. His face is slightly elevated, with his lips parted and his gaze directed upwards. The expression is rapturous, between trance and illumination, evoking a mystical, almost Marian figure, crossed by an intimate force rather than by pain.

This image, like many of those in "Secrets in Black", explores the tension between the tragic and the beautiful, between the theatricality of the gesture and the emotional truth of the character. A contemporary reinterpretation of female sacrifice, with echoes of bullfighting, baroque mysticism and visual poetry.

Antonio Banderas has developed in parallel to his film career, especially in recent decades, a photographic work that has become known in international exhibitions. "Secrets in black" is the title of the series to which the photograph we are bidding for belongs, a series made up of 23 photographs brimming with theatricality and glamour, in which women appear as independent and empowered. She uses myths and references from literature, painting or opera and linked to Spanish culture such as Carmen, Don Juan Tenorio, The Barber of Seville or Goya's "La Maja Desnuda". From these references, he creates a sensual and elegant atmosphere in an intimate and studied environment. This series could be seen at the Cervantes Institute in Madrid in 2010.

Her work in Secrets on Black is characterized by a theatricalized, minimalist and conceptual staging, in which the body -generally female- becomes a vehicle for the exploration of themes such as desire, the multiplicity of the self and inner silence. The choice of black as a background unifies the series and refers to a symbolically charged space: black as the hidden, the intimate, the unconfessable.