The series Nostalgic Memory of My Life Before Birth by Spanish artist Miguel Soler-Roig is presented at Barbara Davis Gallery in Houston, as part of The FotoFest Biennial 2026.
This ongoing project unfolds in a territory between reality and fiction. Through black-and-white photographs, Soler-Roig constructs a constellation of characters inspired by historical and biographical figures, evoking a memory that, although not directly lived, persists in his personal imagination. The work proposes a speculative reconstruction of inherited memory, shaped by documented facts, but also by associations and emotional resonances.
The conceptual origin of the series traces back to his grandfather, José Soler-Roig (1902–1999), a doctor closely connected to prominent figures of the 20th-century cultural sphere, such as Picasso, Dalí, Miró, or Sert. These connections serve as the starting point for an artistic investigation that does not seek to reconstruct facts, but rather to explore possible links and affinities between lives that intertwine beyond time. In this sense, the project unfolds through a chain of associations, where one figure leads to another in an open, expanding network.
The images do not illustrate specific episodes, nor are the portraits literal representations; instead, they function as open fragments and devices of evocation. Soler-Roig works from a deliberately ambiguous space, where physical resemblance operates only as a trigger, and where the portrayed subjects seem to inhabit a suspended identity—both themselves and someone else. The viewer is invited to complete their meaning through their own memory, in a space where the image suggests more than it asserts.
A key aspect of the project lies in its process. The artist collaborates with people from his immediate environment—friends, family, and individuals connected to the art world—whom he selects based on perceived affinities or resemblances with historical figures. Participants are introduced to the character they will embody and engage in a process of identification that goes beyond performance. The photographic session becomes an intimate and almost ritualistic encounter, where the subject does not simply act a role, but allows themselves to be traversed by a memory that is not entirely their own. Ultimately, Soler-Roig’s project does not aim to reconstruct what was, but to activate what could have been: a speculative memory unfolding at the margins of nostalgia and imagination.
More information
Information
Barbara Davis Gallery
4411 Montrose Blvd, Houston, United States of America
March 06, 2026 to April 18, 2026
