Institut Ramon LLull

Joan Fontcuberta: Stranger than Fiction at London's Media Space

Arts.  London, 23/07/2014

Media Space hosts first major UK exhibition by winner of the 2013 Hasselblad International Award in Photography, Joan Fontcuberta, including key works from the artist’s world-renowned oeuvre from 23 July to 9 November 2014. Stranger Than Fiction is presented in collaboration with the Government of Catalonia, organiser of the Catalan Tercentenary programme. 




An eye-opening collection of photographs and artefacts is set to intrigue visitors to the Science Museum this summer as Media Space stages the first major UK exhibition by award-winning Catalan artist Joan Fontcuberta.

Fontcuberta subtly questions the use of the photographic image as evidence, by combining visually compelling and mischievous narratives with an acute, deadpan humour.

With highlights including astonishing photographs of mermaid fossils and incredible reports on mysterious fauna, Stranger Than Fiction presents six conceptually independent narratives from Fontcuberta’s body of work; a visual universe in which the real and the imagined combine to startling effect.

A youth under the Franco dictatorship and an early career in advertising piqued Fontcuberta’s interest in the use of the photographic image as a storytelling tool: an interest which has developed into a life-long creative interrogation of photography’s veracity. In constantly shifting his methods to encompass new developments in photographic practice, Fontcuberta remains one of the most innovative practitioners in his field. 

Co-curated by the artist with Greg Hobson, Curator of Photographs at the National Media Museum, the exhibition will feature some of Fontcuberta’s best-known works, including photographs, film, dioramas, scientific reports and related ephemera to form the second show in the Science Museum’s 550m² Media Space gallery.

JOAN FONTCUBERTA
Born in Barcelona in 1955, artist, teacher, writer and curator Joan Fontcuberta is one of the most significant figures in contemporary photography. After beginning his career in advertising, he went on to teach in the faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Barcelona, as well as numerous other institutions including Harvard University. He co-founded PhotoVision magazine in 1980 and has many other publications to his name. He was named Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French Minister of Culture in 1994, received the 1998 National Prize in Photography from the Spanish Ministry of Culture, the National Prize in Culture for Visual Arts from the Catalan Government and was last year chosen as the recipient of the Hasselblad International Award in Photography.

Joan Fontcuberta said: ‘Photography is a tool to negotiate our idea of reality. Thus it is the responsibility of photographers to not contribute with anaesthetic images but rather to provide images that shake consciousness. My work tries to implement a pedagogy for critical doubt.’

Greg Hobson said: ‘Fontcuberta’s work is astonishing. It combines articulate and persuasive storytelling with a deep questioning of photography’s role in our understanding of the world.’

Media Space is a collaboration between the Science Museum, London and the National
Media Museum, Bradford, home of the National Photography Collection. 

The inaugural Media Space exhibition, Only in England: Photographs by Tony Ray-Jones and Martin Parr, was critically-acclaimed and welcomed 43,968 visitors during its run in London. It is now open at the National Media Museum, Bradford, where it runs until Sunday 29 June.

Hannah Redler, Head of Media Space and Arts Progamme at the Science Museum commented: ‘We’ve been delighted by the public and critical response to Only in England, which has succeeded in bringing a significant new adult audience to the Museum. I’m confident that Fontcuberta’s challenging, revelatory and thought-provoking work will confirm the reputation of Media Space as a destination for anyone with an interest in the photographic image.’

Research by the Museum has found that for 86% of visitors to Only in England, the exhibition was the main reason for coming to the Science Museum.

Offering an eclectic series of exhibitions and events, the Media Space programme draws on the National Photography Collection and the broader Science Museum Collections. Bringing together photographers, artists, curators and the creative industries Media Space explores relationships between, and lesser-known histories of, photography, art, science and technology.

The Principal Founding Major Donors and drive behind Media Space are Michael and Jane Wilson; Founder Donor is the Dana and Albert R Broccoli Foundation and the Principal Founding Sponsor of Media Space is Virgin Media. Media Space has also received generous support in the form of donations or artworks from a large number of individuals, companies and artists.

Joan Fontcuberta: Stranger Than Fiction will run at Media Space, Science Museum, London from 23 July to 9 November 2014, before transferring to National Media Museum, Bradford from 19 November 2014 to 8 February 2015.

 

Notes to Editors

Throughout 2014 the Catalan Tercentenary will commemorate the fall of the city of Barcelona that ended the War of the Spanish Succession on 11 September 1714; a date which marks one of the most important periods in Catalan history. The commemoration of the tercentenary of those events aims to be both positive and imaginative, expressing the goodwill, creativity and constructivism that the Catalan people have always been known for. 300 years after the end of the War of the Spanish Succession, the "Case of the Catalans" is once again a topic for debate in the capital cities of the great powers who took part in the original conflict: London, Paris, Vienna and Brussels, among others. The international aspect of the Tercentenary commemoration includes a programme that brings together internationally celebrated Catalan figures from different eras, such as Joan Miró, Antoni Gaudí and Joan Fontcuberta, and young exponents of the creativity and diversity of contemporary Catalan culture. Together, these artists articulate the excellence of a culture that has a truly international scope.
 

Media Space is the new photography and art gallery on the second floor of the Science Museum will open to the public on 21 September 2013. The Science Museum’s collections form an enduring record of scientific, technological and medical change from the past. Aiming to be the best place in the world for people to enjoy science, the Science Museum makes sense of the science that shapes our lives, sparking curiosity, releasing creativity and changing the future by engaging people of all generations and backgrounds in science, engineering, medicine, technology, design and enterprise. The Science Museum Art Collection contains over 8,000 works, including 290 oil paintings, relating to the history of science, technology and medicine from the antique to the contemporary. Now in its 16th year, the Science Museum’s Contemporary Arts Programme commissions artists to respond to the past, present and futures of science and technology through interventions, exhibitions, research and events. Past artists have included Tacita Dean, Dryden Goodwin, Cornelia Parker, Conrad Shawcross and David Shrigley and media art pioneers such as David Rokeby and Mark Hansen & Ben Rubin.www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/smap

The National Media Museum in Bradford, West Yorkshire, opened as the National Museum of
Photography, Film & Television in Bradford in 1983 with the remit to explore the science, technology and art of the still and moving image. With the aim to be the best museum in the world for inspiring people to learn about, engage with and create media, it draws from more than 3.5 million objects in its National Photography, Television, Cinematography and New Media Collections to create special exhibitions, interactive galleries and activities for families and adults. It also organises a variety of film events every year including Bradford International Film Festival and Bradford Animation Festival, and is home to Europe’s first IMAX cinema screen. Comprising of approximately 3.2 million images, the National Photography Collection includes work by Julia Margaret Cameron, Alfred Stieglitz, Edward Steichen, Edward Weston, Paul Strand, Dorothea Lang, Ansel Adams, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Larry Burrows, Martin Parr, Paul Graham. Nick Knight and Luc Delahaye amongst others.

23 July – 9 November 2014, Media Space, Science Museum, London
Admission £8, Concessions £5 (including donation)
19 November 2014 – 8 February 2015, National Media Museum, Bradford

Principal Founding Sponsor: Virgin Media
Principal Founding Donor: Michael and Jane Wilson, 
Founding Donor: Dana and Albert R Broccoli Foundation

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