Through a series of photographic works identified as a “Photochemical Book”, Catalina De La Cruz explores the desert of Chile and Peru as spaces with imposed limitations, in which natural and manmade structures struggle to survive. Through chromatic, graphic, architectural, spatial, and referential inquiries on the landscapes, the artist books–which have been produced using 19th century photochemical printing–are used to interrogate the visual, material, and conceptual narratives within the photographs, to create new visual contemporary poetics.
“I have developed my work from the photographic, specializing in chemical photography from the 19th century, digital photography, its displacement to large-scale videographic support and creating the photochemical book format as sequential work. From these different devices, I explore the discursivity of photography as an image of the real working in an expanded field, addressing issues about the territory and its intervention – occupation. The notion of immersiveness in the work has been the axis, through the scale and the story.”
“He desarrollado mi obra desde lo fotográfico, especializándome en fotografía química del s.XIX, fotografía digital, su desplazamiento al soporte videográfico de gran escala y creando el formato de libro fotoquímico como obra secuencial. Desde estos diferentes dispositivos, exploro la discursividad de la fotografía en tanto imagen de lo real trabajando en un campo expandido, abordando problemáticas sobre el territorio y su intervención – ocupación. La noción de inmersividad en la obra ha sido el eje, por medio de la escala y el relato.”
Reviews and Brochure
Catalina De La Cruz: The Reverse of the Landscape, Megumi Andrade Kobayashi for Artishock 2019-09-17
Download a PDF of the Exhibition Brochure
Support for Center for Book Arts’ visual arts programming is provided, in part, by the New York State Council on the Arts, with the support of Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, and by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
