Photography Now! Vol.2 ‐ Spanish New Horizon

Ricardo Cases gained recognition in the photography world with his series “Paloma al aire,” which captures Spain’s colorful pigeon races. Oscar Monzon’s book KARMA receive acclaim for exposing the relation between people and their cars. Aleix Plademunt’s “Almost There” is a meditative book that examines the extremes of things nearest and farthest away. Antonion Xoubanova shot “Casa de Campo” at the large-scale urban park of the same name located in west Madrid. All of their works were produced over a period of four years or longer. In a culture that favors immediacy, these four photographers slowly and patiently create their works, which examines Spain as their subject.

The current exhibition was held at the photography gallery “LE BAL” in Paris in December 2014. The widely acclaimed exhibition, which sought to translate photobooks into a photography exhibition featuring four different artists, brought the works into a new narrative and successfully blew new life into the contemporary photography scene. The exhibition has been newly edited for the IMA gallery space.

“Photography Now! Vol.2: New Spanish Horizon” is a collaboration between contemporary Spanish photograph and IMA. It will provide an opportunity for visitors to experience the current state of Spanish photography and likely propose new ideas for the Japanese photography scene as well.

Project support: AMPARO
Sponsor: Embassy of Spain

【Ricardo Cases】
Born in Orihuela, Spain in 1971. Currently based in Madrid. Cases is a member of the “Blank Paper” collective, which was established in 2006. His publications include Belleza de Barrio (2008), La caza del lobo congelado (2009), and Paloma al aire (2011). Paloma al aire was one of the most acclaimed photo books of 2011. The first pressing sold out immediately. His work has been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions in Spain and elsewhere. Last year, MACK published his El porque de las naranjas.

【Oscar Monzon】
Born in Malaga, Spain in 1981. Currently based in Madrid. Monzon is a member of the “Blank Paper” collective, which was established in 2006. His book KARMA, which he shot over four years, received the “First Photo Book Award” at the 2013 Paris Photo-Aperture Foundation Photo Book Awards.

【Aleix Plademunt】
Born in Girona, Spain in 1980. Graduated from the Photography Department at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia in 2003. Plademunt has published two photo books. Almost There, which was published by MACK in 2013, received global acclaim and created tremendous buzz around his work. His work has been featured in exhibitions in Spain and elsewhere.

【Antonio Xoubanova】
Born in Madrid, Spain in 1977. Xoubanova is a founding member of the “Blank Paper” collective. He currently contributes to the New York Times and major Spanish publications. In 2013, his first photo book Casa de Campo was published by MACK. That same year, he was also nominated for the Henri Cartier-Bresson Award.