Chema Madoz

Until January 8, 2012, the Chilean Ministry of Culture and Acción Cultural Española, present at the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo of the Fine Arts Department of the Universidad de Chile, a selection of images created by photographer Chema Madoz (Madrid 1958) between 2000 and 2005 that standout for their poetry, subtlety, and masterly execution. Through the manipulation of objects, Chema Madoz individualizes, confronts, and transforms as he searches for the counterpoint that exists between the essence of things and their latent meanings. Things, objects placed in a new context, devoid of the natural surroundings in which they perform their functions, appear before the camera emitting an array of signals. This exhibition consists of 35 black and white works created in recent years by the Spanish photographer, plus an installation in the Museum¿s central hall. The curator of the exhibition, Borja Casani, explains that the photographs in the exhibition contain a fascination collection of ideas that convey the evolution of the concepts and techniques Madoz has been working on since the beginning of the 1980s. Madoz works with the shadows of things to obtain a formal coherence that allows him to perform a technically precise surgical exercise. Chema Madoz immerses his creative roots into the artistic movements of the first third of the Twentieth Century and into innovative tendencies and vanguards like Dadaism and Surrealism. In his work one can perceive echoes of Magritte, Duchamp, and even of the still lifes of Man Ray. Madoz confronts recognizable objects and establishes a relationship with spectators that opens a door into a parallel universe. He uses metaphors as instruments that help us discover new experiences in everyday life.