Alongside PHotoEspaña runs Festival Off, fringe exhibitions in little galleries and public spaces all over the city, which are separate from the official festival's theme.
As part of Festival Off, my two favourite neighbourhood galleries, just a skip from my apartment, are each holding very different exhibitions of their own.
As part of Festival Off, my two favourite neighbourhood galleries, just a skip from my apartment, are each holding very different exhibitions of their own.
Galería Fernando Pradilla, which I wrote about here, is hosting Spain's first exhibition of the work of the Venezuelan Suwon Lee.
Her photographs in The Darkness of Light use huge exposure times to capture the stars and the Northern Lights in ways that are invisible to the human eye.
Her photographs don't look like photographs at all, they're like surreal paintings. The occasional presence of a tiny human shadow just emphasises the vastness of the sky.
A few doors down the street, Galería Patricia Acal, which I last wrote about here, is exhibiting David Leventi's beautiful photographs of the world's opera houses.
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| David Leventi, La Fenice, Venezia. Italy |
From a family of architects, Leventi says in the exhibition's blurb that he has an almost religious feeling when entering magnificent buildings like these.
His photographs have such depth that they bring out every detail of the rich interiors, his aim being to create perfect symmetry. The scenes would be impossible for the naked eye to take in all at once, but the camera brings everything into focus in a single frame. The effect is like being surrounded by space and potential energy.
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| David Leventi, Palais Garnier, Paris. France |
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| David Leventi, Curtain, Royal Swedish Opera, Stockholm. Sweden |
PHotoEspaña and Festival Off are running throughout the summer at venues all over the city. Look out for the yellow PHE13 signs on gallery windows and pubic buildings and you'll know you're in the right place.
The Darkness of Light until 13 July 2013
Opera until 4 July 2013
