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ESPAÑA OCULTA

27/04/2022 - 24/07/2022

Torreón de Lozoya de Segovia

España oculta (Hidden Spain) has become a classic in contemporary photography. When Cristina García Rodero started work on this project, two contrasting images of rural life in Spanish villages coexisted uneasily: the grotesque, macabre spectacle of deepest, darkest Spain alongside the idealised rural idyll untouched by the modern world. Steering clear of both extremes. García Rodero eschewed tired visual clichés in favour of vast, in-depth research on rituals, beliefs, customs and practice.

Cristina García Rodero began photographing festivities in Spain in 1973, at a time immediately before the country’s transition to democracy, when Spanish society was fast becoming industrialised and rural communities were being left behind. Deeply rooted rites and traditions were disappearing or losing their authentic nature.

Her images feature a wealth of urban and rural characters who act as icons or touchstones for a nostalgic or grotesque past.

Guided by her keen powers of observation and sharp intuition, and unshackled by any ideological or political preconceptions, Cristina García Rodero cast her critical gaze over the country to create a story rooted in tiny details—her own way of letting Spanish festivities and rituals speak for themselves.

ESPAÑA OCULTA

Artworks in the exhibition