Ibasho Gallery presents the second solo-exhibition of the Spanish artist couple Angel Albarrán and Anna Cabrera, ‘Photographic Syntax’.
The exhibition is based on the artist book ‘Photographic Syntax’ that was published earlier by the(M) éditions & Ibasho in which Albarrán Cabrera reveal what photography means to them and how they have succeeded in expanding their photographic syntax:
“The possibility of having a tool with which to investigate reality is what drew us to the photographic medium. At first we photographed with the simple intention of recording what we saw. But soon our interest shifted from capturing the superficial appearance of reality to investigating its “underlying structure”. Thus, photography has in this way become the perfect philosophical tool with which to understand the world and our images are the by-product of that investigation, the notebooks of our research.
Sometimes the available printing technology is not advanced enough to realise one’s vision… We realised that if we wanted to expand the meaning of our work we also needed to expand the rules, principles and processes that make this meaning possible.” – Albarrán Cabrera
Albarrán Cabrera’s works on view show the artists’ approach that photographs are not only images, but also physical objects. They have found new ways to explain their concepts and ideas by inventing new printing techniques and by using existing processes in different ways. Included are their famed colour works created with their invented technique of printing on Japanese gampi paper over gold leaf, but also toned cyanotypes on aluminium. The exhibited works span a decade, from images made during their numerous visits to Japan to their recent abstractions of polarised light that help them to understand concepts and ideas that transcend representation.
Angel Albarrán (b.1969, Barcelona) and Anna Cabrera (b. 1969, Sevilla) have worked collaboratively as art photographers since 1996. Influenced by both occidental and oriental thinkers and artists, their photographs question our assumptions of time, place and identity to stimulate a new understanding of one’s own experience and perception. Their photographs have been exhibited across Europe, the United States and Japan and are held in the private collections of Hermès, the Goetz Collection, Banco de Santander, The German Bundestag, and De Nederlandsche Bank among others. The artists are based in Barcelona, Spain.
Albarrán Cabrera : Photographic Syntax
27 January – 10 March 2024
Opening: Saturday 27 January from 2 – 4 p.m.
Ibasho Gallery
Tolstraat 67
2000 Antwerp, Belgium
www.ibashogallery.com
