Joan Fontcuberta

JOAN FONTCUBERTA (Barcelona, 1955).
"Orogenesis: Trojan condoms", 2002.
Chromogenic print on aluminum.
Edition of two copies.
Measurements: 120 x 180 cm.

In this series by Joan Fontcuberta, the work is based on paintings by Dalí that are processed using computer programs capable of translating topographical plans into three-dimensional images, tools originally developed for military purposes. The result of these orogenesis is the creation of hybrid landscapes that are situated between the pictorial and photographic tradition and the realm of computer science, between the natural and the artificial, as well as between the historical and the contemporary. Fontcuberta's work reflects on the crisis of the photographic technique as well as that of the archive, and highlights how the improvement of these digital programs questions the iconic status of photography as a supposedly faithful transcription of reality.

Artist, teacher, essayist, critic and art promoter specialized in photography, Joan Fontcuberta has developed a successful career, which has earned him awards such as the David Octavius Hill by the Fotografisches Akademie GDL of Germany (1988), the appointment of Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the Ministry of Culture in France (1994), and the National Prize of Photography, awarded by the Ministry of Culture of Spain (1998). A graduate in Information Sciences, Fontcuberta is a professor of Audiovisual Communication Studies at Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona and Harvard University in Cambridge (Massachusetts, USA). He also collaborates with various publications specializing in image. In 1980 he co-founded the magazine "PhotoVIsion", where he was editor-in-chief. As a promoter of events related to the art of photography, he has organized the Jornadas Catalanas de Fotografía, collaborated in the constitution of the Primavera Fotográfica de Barcelona, and has curated important exhibitions in Madrid, New York, Barcelona, Marseille, etc. His extensive photographic work is characterized by the use of computer tools in its treatment, and by its interactive presentation with the viewer. His language represents a critical vision of reality, photographic, historical or fictitious truths through photography and its context. Between 1985 and 2001, Fontcuberta's work has been exhibited in more than thirty museums and art galleries in Europe, North America and Japan, notably the MoMA in New York, the Folkwang Museum in Essen, the IVAM in Valencia, the Parco Gallery in Tokyo, the National Art Museum of Catalonia in Barcelona, the Redpath in Montreal, the Musée de l'Élysée in Lausanne, the Museum of Fine Arts in Bilbao and many others. He is currently represented in numerous private collections and also in many public collections, including the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, the Metropolitan and MoMA in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe in Hamburg, the IVAM in Valencia and the Museo de Bellas Artes in Buenos Aires.