María Bleda, Castellón, 1969.
José María Rosa, Albacete, 1970.
María Bleda and José María Rosa are two of the most well-known references of contemporary Spanish photography.
The core of their work consists of their depiction of landscapes through which they seek to highlight the complex intersection of cultures and time. They approach the landscape from experience, always conscious of what happened there. They interpret the traces that remain in our memories. They transform the genre of the landscape into images with a great deal of evocative power, where their own experiences are expressed in the places they photograph. Their work harkens back to the world of romantic ruins and desolate landscapes explored by poets and artists of the nineteenth century. The passage of time, the traces and the memories are the intangible elements that make up their work.
In compact and outstanding series like “Campos de fútbol”, “Campos de batalla” - divided into three sections - Spain, Europe and Overseas -, “Ciudades” and “Origen”, Bleda and Rosa have recorded the latent history that inhabits these spaces, a past which they explore by activating our imaginations and our memories. Their journey has become progressively more complex through the gradual incorporation into their work of a deep reflection on the construction of photographic space and the relationship between nature and culture.
Their works are exhibited at: the Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo in Seville; the Alcobenas City Hall; the Centro Galego de Arte Contemporánea; the Telefónica Contemporary Art Collection; the Fundación MAPFRE; Fundación Marcelino Botín; Fundación María Cristina Masaveu; MNCARS; MUSAC and the Museo de Bellas Artes in Santander.
In 2008 they received the National Photography Award from the Spanish Ministry of Culture.
Works in the collection:
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