First went to bikeSpain to get the route of our Basque Bike trip explained to me. Then found yet another wonderful gem of an exhibit at Caixa Forum this morning: "Un Mundo Flotante" --photographs by Jacques Henri Lartrigue (1894-1986). A frenchman, he received his first camera at the age of 8 and photographed al kinds of things, also jotting down little notes, to a keep of record of his life. I can definitely relate haha! The title of his notebooks would be things like "Reasons why I'm so happy" and as he got older, he saw the importance of keeping this journals as a means of compensating for the failings of adult memory. At the top of each page he wrote the weather for the day (So his diary provides over 70 years of weather records...), when there was a war going on, he'd leave a comment like "War: nothing new" and at the bottom of each page he would "rate" the day -- give it a score!
In addition to this theme of record keeping, Latrigue was also keen to capture "fleeting moments" with his camera. He once said something along the lines of "since I was a boy I've been affected by an illness: all the things I love escape or disappear without me being able to save them adequately in my memory" -- I'm sure it was a lot more poetic in French, but I liked the idea....So lots of pictures of divers, tennis matches, people in cars (a funny series of photos of people dressed up in goggles and leather jackets to protect themselves from the wind when driving in one of those newfangled "cars") -- he liked velocity and was fascinated by new technology. He also took lots of photos of people (at horse races, at the beach) often from the ground -- giving the appearance that we were watching the world from the perspective of a young awestruck child.
Latrigue was also basically unknown until 1963 when the MOMA in New York first exhibited his photographs. Late, in 1979, Latrigue actually donated all of this photos to the French state. I love these exhibits, expanding my horizons and moving beyond the usual artists and photographers who always get talked about -- this is definitely one of the things I'll miss about Madrid life :)
Afterwards, home for la comida and then met up Nirali in Sol to have a drink in the warm plaza and then walk to the Heroína exhibit and through Huertas. It was great to see her again -- I think it's been nearly 5 years since we last saw each other!! Oh Europe, always providing such opportunities to reunir!
Walked home through Retiro to see a contemporary art exhibit in Casa de Vacas (I liked the aerial paintings depicting street intersections of Gran Vía and Alcalá) and another artist seemed to really like rusty corners and doorways! Always something new to see...Also ran into Eliana and Cullen in the park -- Eliana leaves tomorrow after 6 months here! Wow. Home for dinner and then packing.
In addition to this theme of record keeping, Latrigue was also keen to capture "fleeting moments" with his camera. He once said something along the lines of "since I was a boy I've been affected by an illness: all the things I love escape or disappear without me being able to save them adequately in my memory" -- I'm sure it was a lot more poetic in French, but I liked the idea....So lots of pictures of divers, tennis matches, people in cars (a funny series of photos of people dressed up in goggles and leather jackets to protect themselves from the wind when driving in one of those newfangled "cars") -- he liked velocity and was fascinated by new technology. He also took lots of photos of people (at horse races, at the beach) often from the ground -- giving the appearance that we were watching the world from the perspective of a young awestruck child.
Latrigue was also basically unknown until 1963 when the MOMA in New York first exhibited his photographs. Late, in 1979, Latrigue actually donated all of this photos to the French state. I love these exhibits, expanding my horizons and moving beyond the usual artists and photographers who always get talked about -- this is definitely one of the things I'll miss about Madrid life :)
Afterwards, home for la comida and then met up Nirali in Sol to have a drink in the warm plaza and then walk to the Heroína exhibit and through Huertas. It was great to see her again -- I think it's been nearly 5 years since we last saw each other!! Oh Europe, always providing such opportunities to reunir!
Walked home through Retiro to see a contemporary art exhibit in Casa de Vacas (I liked the aerial paintings depicting street intersections of Gran Vía and Alcalá) and another artist seemed to really like rusty corners and doorways! Always something new to see...Also ran into Eliana and Cullen in the park -- Eliana leaves tomorrow after 6 months here! Wow. Home for dinner and then packing.
No comments:
Post a Comment