Carlos Albalá
Carlos Albalá
Carlos Albalá’s photography focuses on the concept of urban fringes and territory, either on his own or together with artist Ignasi López. It has romantic roots, with idealistic features of the landscape, and stresses the concept of limits. He works from an emotional viewpoint of the landscape and the objects photographed through interior spaces, past spots and restored places.
Resume
Carlos Albalá
Madrid, 1979.
Vive y trabaja en/Lives and works in: Madrid.
Formación Académica/Education
2004
Licenciado en psicología/Bachelor of Psychology, Universidad Complutense de Madrid.
Titulado en Fotografía profesional/Diploma in Professional Photography, Escuela Audiovisual Metrópolis, Madrid.
Exposiciones Individuales/Solo Exhibitions
2013
Ouroboro. Códice para un hilo circular. Sala Kursala. Universidad de Cadiz, Cádiz.
2010
Zoo, FotoGrafia. Festival Internazionale di Roma, Real Academia de España en Roma, Roma.
2008
Confines, Galería Utopía Parkway, Madrid.
Exposiciones Colectivas/Group Exhibitions
2012
On Migration, PhotoIreland Festival. Moxie Studio, Dublin. Irlanda
2010
Paisajes interiores, EMERGENT-LLEIDA. Festival Internacional de Fotografía i Arts Visuals, Museo de Lleida Diocesà i comarcal, Lleida.
2009
E ART R., OTR Espacio de Arte, Madrid.
Quinquis de los 80, Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona, CCCB, Barcelona.
2008
GD4PhotoART, Palazzo Pepoli Campogrande, Bologna.
Moncloa: Centro y periferia, Centro Cultural Moncloa, Madrid.
Creación INJUVE, Círculo de Bellas Artes, Madrid; Centro Cultural de España en Lima; Centro Cultural de España en Montevideo; Centro Cultural de España en Rosario, Argentina.
The Core of Industry. Photo Festival Reggio Emilia 2008, Spazio Guerra, Reggio Emilia, Italia.
6ª Biennal d’Art Leandre Cristòfol, Centre d'Art La Panera, Lleida.
Bigcityunlimited, Galería Utopía Parkway, Madrid.
BCN producció 08, La Capella, Institut de Cultura de Barcelona.
2007
Generación 2007. Premios y becas de arte Caja Madrid, La Casa Encendida, Madrid; La Capella de la L'Antic Hospital de la Santa Creu, Barcelona; Sala Municipal de Exposiciones del Museo de la Pasión, Valladolid; Sala Municipal de Exposiciones de la Iglesia de las Francesas de Valladolid; Reales Atarazanas de Valencia, Sala de Exposiciones del Convento de Santa Inés, Sevilla.
Proyectos/Projects
2013
Co-fundador de Kuabol. Madrid. www.kuabol.com
2011
Co-creador y Co-editor de Bside Books. Madrid/Barcelona. www.bsidebooks.com
2008
Co-creador de Lapsus Magazine, Madrid. www.lapsusmagazine.com
2006
Co-creador y organizador del Festival de Artes visuales Caja de Luz, Barcelona.
Becas y Premios/Awards and Grants
2008
Premio Internacional de Fotografía The Core of Industry, Institución de Cultura, Reggio Emilia, Italia. (Selección/Selected)
BCN producció 08, La Capella, Institut de Cultura de Barcelona. (Premio/Award)
2007
Selección de fotografía europea sobre industria, sociedad y territorio, Bologna. (Selección/Selected)
Premios a la Creación en Artes Visuales INJUVE 2007, InJuve, Madrid. (Selección/Selected)
Generación 2007, Premios y Becas de Arte Caja Madrid, Madrid. (Adquisición/Acquisition)
2004
Un fotoclic, Fundación Caja Madrid, Madrid. (Premio/Award)
2003
Paisajes nocturnos, Fundación Caja Madrid, Madrid. (Premio/Award)
Obras en Museos y Colecciones/Works in Museums and Collections
Colección de Arte Caja Madrid.
Centro de Documentación, Centre d'Art La Panera, Lleida.
Colección FRMA, Centre national de l'estampe et de l'art imprimé, Ile-de-France, Paris.
Colección de arte Fundación AENA, Madrid.
Fototeca de la Biblioteca Panizzi, Reggio Emilia, Italia.
Bibliografía/Bibliography
Albalá, Carlos; Delgado, Susana; Hernando, Teo; Orcaray, Javi; Uriearte, Jon; Zamora, Manuel, “1:1”, Barcelona, Bside Books, 2012
Albalá, Carlos, “Fault", Madrid, Bside Books, 2011
López, Ignasi; Albalá, Carlos, "Evidences as to man's place in nature”, Madrid, Bside Books, 2010
López, Ignasi; Albalá, Carlos, "Periurbanos", Madrid, Galería La caja Negra, 2009.
"Quinquis de los 80. Cine, prensa y calle", Barcelona, Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona, CCCB, 2009, Cat. Exp.
"The Collector’s Guide to Emerging Art Photography", New York, Humble Arts Foundation, 2008, Cat. Exp.
"Moncloa: Centro y periferia", Madrid, Junta municipal Mocloa-Aravaca, 2008, Cat. Exp.
"BCN Producció 08", Barcelona, Institut de Cultura de Barcelona, 2008, Cat. Exp.
"The Core of Industry", Reggio Emilia, Photofestival Reggio Emilia, 2008, Cat. Exp.
Ibarz, Mercè, "Los nuevos románticos", El País, 14/IV/2008.
Graell, Vanessa, "Los exploradores de las ruinas de la postmodernidad", Tendencias, El Mundo, 9/V/2008.
"Creación InJuve 2007", Madrid, InJuve, Instituto de la juventud, 2007, Cat. Exp.
"Generación 2007", Premios y becas de Arte Caja Madrid, Madrid, Obra social Caja Madrid, 2007, Cat. Exp.
Contacto/Contact
contact@carlosalbala.com
www.carlosalbala.com
Questions
1. What made you choose art as a profession?
I didn’t exactly make a decision one day to do art alongside a separate professional activity; it just happened naturally and over time it’s become a need and an important part of my personal and professional development.
2. How would you define your work?
I think in both my individual work and what I do with Ignasi López I could define my work to date as part of the concept of emotional topography through different attempts at photographic representations based mainly on the landscape.
3. What subjects are you interested in?
My work so far has looked at peripheries, territories, limits and nostalgia. It all follows a very specific aesthetic line and meteorological conditions. At the moment I’m working on a project to explore these concepts from a more emotional angle and with a certain historical connotation, where the idea of memory is linked to subjects and concepts I’ve worked on before.
4. What resources – formal or otherwise – do you use in your work?
In series like Periphery or Urban Fringe Nostalgia, the location played a major role in the process. At other times, the style comes from literature or film linked instinctively to the photographs or the use of objects taken out of context. For the exhibitions with Ignasi López I worked with advertising resources such as big posters broken up and stuck to a wall, artist books and postcards. In my latest series, I combined light boxes, plastic zip bags and more formal representations of photography.
5. What relationship does your work have with reality? What are your raw materials?
Since I work with photography, my work is closely related to reality, always through an individual and emotional filter during the creative process.
6. How do you hope the public will receive your work? What audience are you aiming at?
I’d like them to feel something evocative or simply get some aesthetic pleasure from it. I’m aiming at anyone who might be interested.
7. What qualifications have you got? What do you value most from your time in education?
My formal education comes from two paths that have crossed to make up my artistic work. On the one hand, my training as a psychologist, and on the other, studying photography at an audiovisual school in Madrid. But I think what I value most is at an informal level, such as creating and carrying out joint projects, sharing work with fellow artists and enjoying other artistic areas, amongst other things. But above all, the feeling of constantly learning things.
8. How would you define your current professional situation? And in the future?
I currently combine my work as a photographer at commercial and educational levels. In the future I hope to create ideas that can produce work and energise personal and joint projects in the most positive form possible.
9. Many artists say it’s difficult to make a living from their work; how do economic considerations affect you when it comes to work? Do you think this has a bearing on your work?
I don’t think it’s easy to make a living from art work; economic limitations certainly play a role, but if you work enthusiastically and know how to adapt to the situation, things work out. However, I do think you can combine a well-adapted commercial or work activity with carrying out personal projects and striking the right balance to let you work in the best way possible.
10. What do you look for or expect from your relationship with promoters and curators? What advantages and difficulties have you found with these relationships?
I think it has to be based on an enriching relationship in which both sides can work coherently and evolve. It’s not always easy finding people like this.
11. What do you think sets the arts scene in Madrid apart from elsewhere? What would you say are its pluses and minuses?
Madrid offers a wide range of institutions, art and education, but I think there’s a need for more coherent cultural management concerning art and greater cohesion between artists. In other spheres, Madrid is beginning to create other circuits where you can create more binding dynamics that create more opportunities, which bodes well for the future if there’s real, effective support.
Interview
Images
Texts
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| Agustin Fdez Mallo, "Zoo" para el Libro Periurbanos, 2008. SPA. | 12.04 KB |
| Eloy Fernandez Porta, "Nostalgia". SPA. | 15.92 KB |