FONS ÀUDIO #32
Jorge Ribalta
‘Field Works’ was a monographic exhibition on the work of Jorge Ribalta (Barcelona, 1963) held at galería àngels barcelona gallery from December 2012 to March 2013. The title referred both to a working method based on empirical and anthropological observation, and to the specific analysis of the ‘cultural field’, which Ribalta analysed and scrutinised with his camera. The works in the show reflected these premises and were a turning point in relation to Ribalta’s earlier oeuvre.
‘Sur l’herbe’ (2005-2008) –which is part of the MACBA Collection–; ‘Trabajo anónimo, Iracheta SL, Can Ricart, Poblenou’ (2005); ‘Petit Grand Tour, Tarragona, 29 agosto – 6 octubre 2007’ (2007-2008); ‘Laocoonte salvaje’ (2010-2011); Scrambling (2011) and ‘Imperio (o K.D.)’ (2013-2014) are series that explore contemporary forms of work and leisure arising from our cultural systems, and at the same time update the concepts of the document and documentary practice.
In contrast to current post-photographic discourses that theorise in real time about the death of photography, Ribalta defends the need to restore political currency to the photographic document as a means of representation and analysis of social processes, as a critical method for studying the ideological dimension of images, and, ultimately, as a tool for unmasking the strategies of power.
Ribalta works with large series of black and white photographs, which he takes with an analogue camera and develops himself in his darkroom. These series take over the exhibition space, setting up meaningful relationships between the images and immersing the viewer in the epicentre of a modality of public and relational space that is essentially photographic.
Deleted scenes
We dig up some unreleased fragments of the interview with Manolo Laugillo that we were unable to include the first time around.
Manolo Laguillo
Manolo Laguillo is a photographer, essayist and professor of photography in the Fine Arts Faculty, Universitat de Barcelona. His stark, deserted urban representations illustrate processes of change in the contemporary metropolis. In FONS AUDIO #37 Manolo Laguillo talks about his methods of working with large format cameras, about his walks in the city outskirts, about puddles, asphalt and ruins, about the qualities of colour and black and white, the sensuality of prints on paper, and the links between music and photography.
Bartomeu Marí, Jorge Ribalta and Cristina Zelich talk about the exhibition "Centre Internacional de Fotografia Barcelona (1978-1983)".
Deleted scenes
We dig up some unreleased fragments of the interview with Jorge Ribalta that we were unable to include the first time around.
Alfons Borrell
Alfons Borrell is one of the greatest exponents of Catalan abstract painting. He has gradually established a solid and highly expressive body of work of great intensity. His painting is a unique case in the artistic movements that shaped Catalan modernity in the second half of the twentieth century. In FONS AUDIO #31 Alfons Borrell takes us on a personal journey through his painting career, as he shares his ideas on art and life, memory and memories, nature and landscape.
Deleted scenes
We dig up some unreleased fragments of the interview with the Catalan photographer Xavier Ribas.
Jorge Ribalta
Interview to Jorge Ribalta, curator of the project "Universal Archive. The condition of the Document and the Modern Photographic Utopia".
Jorge Ribalta
Interview with Jorge Ribalta on the local question, photography and the MACBA's programme of activities for the beginning of 2007.
Jorge Ribalta
Interview with Jorge Ribalta on intellectual property rights, heritage and the public sphere.
Jorge Ribalta
Interview with Jorge Ribalta about the "Institutional Critique and Mental Health" series. Includes a brief interview with Zush and an audio excerpt from "Mones com la Becky" ("Monkeys Like Becky") by Joaquim Jordà.