Villazan presents Paul Solberg: “Finding Fame and Storytelling” in their Madrid gallery, an exhibition curated by Tania Fer and featuring a suite of photographs spanning the artists two-decade career. “Finding Fame and Storytelling” explores the inhabitants of Solberg’s lens, from Manhattan, NY to Kyiv, Ukraine, mostly civilians he sees on the street: a Slovenian carpenter, an Italian dancer, French financier, or a Spanish skateboarder.
“A person new to being photographed, looks into the lens differently. There is a naivete and a playfulness that is not always within the psyche of the individual familiar with the camera’s stare. When it’s kinetic, magic, it’s both the photographer and subject open to improvise together. For me I’m finding the light while the subject is finding themselves, both photographer and subject learning something new about who they are. Because I’m often alone in the studio taking pictures of flowers, taking pictures of interesting human beings is pure collaboration. And when a subject becomes free and trusts you, it’s a high human experience.” Solberg says.
Solberg allows the viewers’ imagination to complete the picture, delving into the subject with a sculptural sensibility, using the skin of a flower or the skin of a human being with the same intention, to find the light that drapes over the subject. Solberg demonstrate a mastery of his medium, capturing moments frozen in time that echo with emotion, void of any particular era. Most of the portraits were taken earlier this century, and many of the works shown for the first time publicly.
Curated by Tania Fer
Paul Solberg : Finding Fame and Storytelling
March 5 – March 16, 2024
Gallery Villazan Madrid
Calle Campoamor 17
28004 Madrid, Spain
www.villazan.com
