Piedra

In September 2007 we opened at the gallery the show “Piedra”, the first of the many exhibitions we dedicated to one of our most representative photographers. It began then, not only a close professional relationship between gallerist and artist, but a friendship that has grown over time. Isabel Muñoz is a must in the celebration of the gallery’s 15th anniversary, 15 years after that early exhibition.

The Catalan photographer makes us part of her most recent projects, some unpublished, such as the series The Spaniards that has inspired the title of the show, in reference to the harmony of proportions characteristic of purebred Spanish horses. Felipe II gave rise to this lineage with the purpose of representing in the equine the qualities that, according to the monarch, should adorn the Spanish knights. For Muñoz, this quadruped is a noble, brave animal that also dances, maintaining that intimate connection with its rider that has earned it the title «healer». The use of 24-carat gold to capture its elegance allows us to leave us with a selection of small treasures that hide a vibrant spiritual heartbeat: in many religions, especially Hindus and Buddhists, the faithful offer gold sheets to their gods to beg their mercy.

Isabel Muñoz’s concern for the planet manifests itself once again in the use she makes of materials such as coral and mother-of-pearl, converted, with the help of Manolo Gordillo and through serigraphy, engraving and pigment inks, into photographic copies of beautiful workmanship With this experimental display, he generates a twist on his previous series Agua and Japan and a new warning message about global warming.

The search for the origins of the human being is another of the recurring themes in his career and in Escala 1 he addresses it with the two images of sacred trees that announce the direction that his future research will take. On this occasion, he experiments with chine collé, a 19th-century technique that offers chromatic variations and textures of remarkable delicacy.

The exhibition also includes several pieces of video art and retrospective images, some unpublished, others especially recognized, using in many cases the platinum type, one of the most illustrious expressions of photographic art in whose execution Isabel Muñoz occupies an outstanding international place. .

As the final touch of the exhibition, emphasizing the innovative desire of the artist, a collection of jewels based on fragments of her photographs, made by herself in collaboration with the goldsmith workshop Malicia, is exhibited.