At the beginning of his career, Chema Madoz (Madrid, 1958) did not imagine to what extent everyday objects would weave his work. At first, he thought of them as a subject for a series of snapshots. Two, maybe. But, over the years, its contours and geometries have come to dominate its imaginary. With all its edges and from all angles. He says with laughter that he finds it "more comfortable" to work with them as a model than with those of flesh and blood. That, thus, can take its own compass. "When I started, what I was looking for was a work rhythm that, somehow, was similar to that of the writer, which does not depend on the models. He simply sits down and gets to work," he says. "The object, in an unexpected way, allows me that. It was a discovery . "
Awarded the National Photography Prize in 2000, Madoz's new exhibition expands the action radar and plunges its roots into a slope of his work that, until now, remained dormant, half hidden between the half-smiles and the discreet nudges that They provoke their analogies. "There is a part of my work that revolves around a concept that had never been highlighted," he argues. "There has always been talk of work from the prism of the object and not from that of nature. In principle, they would be two opposite concepts, but both are related in a very fluid way." Just a quick look at your file to confirm it. In their black and white shots, between matches, watches, squares and bevels , the forms of nature beat in a thousand different ways, as an argument and, sometimes, also as an excuse, fusing the inventiveness of the artist with the skill of the prestidigitator.
The 62 photographs that nourish the exhibition The nature of things , taken over the last three decades, show the dialogue that the compositions have with the most unexpected forms. Those on which the hand of man has failed to exercise its modeling. From the branch of a tree on which a cloud sits jumps to another from which musical notes hang. And from a vase overflowing with butterflies moves to the crackling of pens that, over low heat, are consumed in a bonfire. "They are images in which objects are interwoven with nature," he says. "We have become aware of this presence when revisiting the work from this angle. Nor was I especially aware. I was the first surprised by how, since the beginning, and with that we are talking about images taken in the early 80s, nature has always been there. "
After checking how his work looks exposed in the pavilions of the Royal Botanic Garden, where the exhibition can be visited until March 1, Madoz confesses to being surprised "by how well the images breathe with the place." In this space is where his work questions the visitor, between twists and double senses. "The associations that I show are born from observing everything that surrounds us. The work forces us to be alert, to have a kind of constant tension that causes any situation, any small detail, to be able to play with it. To build a different reading from him, "he explains. Hence the importance that the unpredictable has in his visual discourse. "The irony is given by distance. Seeing something with irony always means getting away from the scene, from preconceived ideas. In that exercise of distancing is when it comes into play. It has always seemed more interesting to me than the concept of sense of humor, "sentence.
Framed within the program dedicated to several masters of contemporary art that La Fábrica has been projecting since last year, the exhibition also includes a selection of personal objects from the Madoz workshop. Among them, there are several sketches and preparatory drawings with which the exhibition seeks to shed some light on the creative process of this author. A dotted line that, fluently, connects the original idea with the photographic paper on which, finally, it ends up being printed. In addition, in parallel to the organization of the exhibition, a publication has also been published with 40 photographs that are decorated with the texts The art of disrupting the rules of nature , by Commissioner Oliva María Rubio, and Chema Madoz and in self-absorption of things , signed by the writer Bernardo Atxaga.
From a strictly formal point of view, the photographer ensures that his work adheres to a series of very simple keys. It is these guidelines that, among whispers, guide their steps. "In my work, I face the object in such a way that the only thing it does is to adopt the role of a witness, to record something that has been built to be photographed. They are images whose compositions have very clear axes. As time goes by, I think that conscious limitation in the use of language becomes a key that allows you to identify your work without necessarily being associated with your name. In the end, it is the image itself that gives the keys. "
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PHOTOGRAPHhema Madoz and the art of routine
CULTURE Hema Madoz and the art of routine
Culture The hidden Madrid of the Prado Museum