Biography
I was born in Lomas de Zamora in November, 1968.
I studied at the Colegio Nacional Almirante Brown in Adrogué. I did military service in Rospentek, Río Turbio. I travelled to Japan. I began studies in Social Communication, which I abandoned in the second year. I began studying photography in a workshop where I had Enrique Symns as a neighbor. I entered the Escuela de Arte Fotográfico of Avellaneda. I was dismissed due to absentism on the second year and left the institution. I met Esteban Marco and studied with him for two years. I met Alberto Goldenstein at Ana and Ricardo’s house. I showed photographs for the first time at the Alianza Francesa thanls to Paola Scholten’s support. I exhibited my work at the contemporary languages cured by Florencia Braga Menéndez. I met Ralveroni. I met the people from Lápiz Japonés (Japanese Pencil). I het Hernán Nuñez, Fernando Kabusacki and Andrés Jankowski. I met Rafael Cippollini at the door of a King Crimson concert. I showed my work at the Rojas Cultural Center under the tuition of Alberto Goldenstein. I began to work with him, and began to see with more clarity. I met Marina Bandin. I met Reynaldo Jiménez, one of the happiest encounters. I met Mariano Mayer, whom I kept coming across in Constitución and never greeted. I met Lola. I met Gabriela Forcadell, of whom I learnt significantly. We travelled in a group including her, Lola, Gastón and Ceci to present Masterbox at Printed Matter. I got to know Belleza y Felicidad. I met Fernanda and Celcilia. I very happily made a show at Ruth Benzacar together with Lola, Lindner, Román Vitali, Marula and Francone under the supervision of Rafael Cippollini. I made a show at Belleza y Felicidad with Suscripción, Marina, Cristian and Marce, with the photocopies, alone. I put together Hawaii with Lola, Aneta, Alina, Lehmann, Juli Gatto and Marcelo López. I was published by Purple Magazine. Hawaii got published by Purple Magazine. I made a show at Malba invited again by Cippollini. After everything exploded I met Magda, Diego, Mariela, from whom I also learnt a lot. I went to work at the Barrio La Fé withLola, Cata, Edu and Julia. I met Fernando Mariani from Médanos and got to know the Centro Cultural, an extremely rewarding experience. I entered the Collections of MAMBA and MALBA. I began to collaborate with I-D magazine. I put Tosto together with Juli Gatto. I travelled to New York with Belleza y Felicidad, and we made a show at the Consulado y Hogar Collection. We had a picnic in the park. With Caro Pellejero and Juli Gatto we want to build a square in Buratovich. I married Lola in December, 2004, and am very happy.
Vision of art
1. Choose a work that represents you, describe it in relation to its format and materiality, its relation with time and space, its style and theme; detail its production process.
In photography, it is not easy to separate a picture from the whole set; pictures are so easy to make that the possibility of writing about their production gets blurred, pretentious at least for the pictures I take. Nonetheless, given that I set forth to answer this questionnaire, I choose a picture I particularly like. It is in black and white, 35 mm, taken during 1992 while I was in Japan for the second time. The portrait of Momo chan, the niece of a friend, Miki, with whom I stayed in Tokyo.
Pictures always produce themselves, and when coming back after three months and developing the films and making the enlargements I was amazed by his eyes; a man told me that until we are three we all have a special sparkle in the eyes that very few people are able, or dare, to maintain. Only that, also, was part of my first exhibition at the Room for Contemporary Languages curated by Florencia Braga Menéndez; it was the invite, and the poster, a fetish.
2. In general terms, how would you suggest to approach your work?
Let it be read in the following manner:
To see all exhibitions, publications and editions produced until the moment, all at once, in a single environment; to add every future exhibition, publication and edition in the same room, and with time to expand the room to the sides, not to the top.
I do not think I demand anything from the person who looks; I would like to offer a space to breathe with happiness.
3. In reference to your work and your position in the national and international art fields, what tradition do you recognize yourself in? Who are your contemporary referents? What artists of previous generations are of interest to you?
In Argentina there is no photographic tradition, thus I cannot enrol in any. The only person who might make a serious analysis of photography is Esteban Marco, unfortunately left aside, unfortunately outside of the country.
Fernando Paillet’s work.
I learned to clean my gaze with Alberto Goldenstein; I’m not sure about the meaning of ‘referent’; to be able to look without the city’s neon lights.
I like Fernando Fader, Lola Goldstein, Fernanda Laguna, Marina Bandin, Leo Batistelli’s grandfather, Alfredo Londaibere, Julián Gatto.
4. Choose works or exhibitions from the last ten or fifteen years which in your opinion were very significant and explain why
Mar del Plata, by Alberto Goldenstein in the San Martín Cultural Centre. After looking at the exhibition a few times - my studio is in front of this place – I wanted to write about it, about him, about photography’s history; afterwards I realized that the exhibition had nothing to do with photography, it was something else, and fortunately I was not able to write anything.
Another koan,
How could we photograph seals?
Flâneur, by Alberto Goldenstein in Ruth Benzacar, same as above.
Another koan,
How could we photograph Liniers?
Fernanda Laguna’s relentless luminosity, providing fresh air all the time.
5. What tendencies or groupings from common elements do you see in argentine art of the last ten or fifteen years?
I do not go out much.
I have heard about a couple of things, but they get lost. I know there are conceptual artists, many installations with dirty objects; last year I saw two installations with a television set looking (if it is possible for a television set to look), with a television set looking to the wall. I saw photographers who take their picture naked, retouched, photographers who set up scenes which look as if they have not been set up, there are digital photographers, photographers who talk about sex, Kuitca Fellowship´s photographers, photographers who hate Kuitca Fellowship´s photographers, photographers who listen to cumbia and those who say that that is frivolous.
There are political photographers, even more so during the last three years, photographers close to the press, photographers who seem to be from the Berlin underground, photographers who travel to international festivals and spend a lot of money doing monumental stuff, there are photographers who do not have much money and resent those who spend a lot, there are national and popular photographers, photographers who go to New York, those who want to leave the country, those who used to buy Lápiz and Art Forum, designers who want to make art.
During the last 15 years everything has changed, I could talk about the time I used to go out more, but that was a long time ago and I do not remember much and whatever I remember is not interesting, for instance the biennials for young artists.
