The Avant-Gard and Latin-American Photography: The Poetics and Discourse of the Modern Gaze

From November 15 to December of 2014, the CCE-Miami presents the exhibition entitled "The Avant-Gard and Latin-American Photography: The Poetics and Discourse of the Modern Gaze." The exhibition of works by 23 photographers brings together many of the most important authors of photographic art in Latin America. These are: Ruven Afanador, Manuel Álvarez-Bravo, Hugo Brehme, Martín Chambi, Valdir Cruz, Alberto Díaz-Gutiérrez (Korda), Héctor García, Flor Garduño, Luis González-Palma, Pepe Hanze, Graciela Iturbide, Guillermo Kahlo, Luis Mallo, Tina Modotti, Nickolas Muray, Antonio Reynoso, Sebastião Salgado, Javier Silva, Bernard Silverstein, Pablo Soria, Edward Weston, and Mariana Yampolsky. They represent the countries of Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico and Perú, as well as Germany, Italy, Hungary and the US. The works belong to the Colección Edmundo Kronfle. The exhibition presents three itineraries: "Bodies and Faces," "Landscapes: From the Rural to the Urban, and "Passages". We find in them connections between creators with diverse poetics and discourses that confront and connect their works. These are series that showcase the richness, expressiveness, the imaginary and the uniqueness of this magnificent group of photographers as an expression of the modern gaze surrounding the Latin American reality. Curated by the art critic and independent curator Dennys Matos, the exhibition proposes an approach—from different formal sensibilities and contents—to the Latin American themes associated with the construction of its project of modernity. It does not only include authors that led the avant-garde movements in Latin America, such as Álvarez Bravo, Tina Modotti and Martin Chambi, but also creators that have continued the renovation of the Latin American photographic language of our time like: Luis Mallo, Ruven Afanador, Valdir Cruz and Pepe Hanze. Together they articulate a suggestive kaleidoscope through which it is possible to contemplate through unpublished poetic and discursive nexus, a review of a large and representative part of the history of Latin American photography of the last eighty years. At the same time, the exhibition offers a thoughtful look at the complexity of Latin American culture and its original hybridity involved in profound and contradictory social, cultural and historical changes. The Centro Cultural Español is located at 1490 Biscayne Bldv. Miami, Fl 33132. More information is available at: www.ccemiami.org