This exhibition recovers the figure of Antoni Arissa, a significant Spanish representative of photographic avant-garde whose work was largely unknown for eight decades. It presents over 160 black and white photographs charting his career from pictorialism to the New Vision movement.
The exhibition "Arissa. La sombra y el fotógrafo 1922-1936" aims to reintroduce Antoni Arissa, one of Spain's most prominent avant-garde photographers whose work remained largely unknown for eight decades. This is the first comprehensive retrospective dedicated to the artist, continuing Fundación Telefónica's commitment to preserving photographic archives.
The exhibition features over 160 black and white photographs, organized into three stylistic blocks: pictorialism (1922-1928), the transition towards modern photographic solutions (early 1930s), and the New Vision movement (1930-1936), during which Arissa fully embraced avant-garde photography. Arissa began his career in the early 1920s, initially influenced by pictorialism with its artistic aspirations and thematic focus on rural scenes and literary narratives. By the early 1930s, his style evolved towards modern photography, influenced by Central European approaches, emphasizing composition, form, viewpoint, and lighting. His work then shifted towards conceptual photography, focusing on intimate subjects like his home, garden, and family, before expanding to capture the streets and port of Barcelona. After the Spanish Civil War, Arissa's artistic activity diminished, leading to his gradual obscurity until a few of his works were featured in a 1990 exhibition, marking the beginning of his rediscovery.
