Josef Koudelka
September 12–November 29, 2015
Press conference: September 10, noon
FUNDACIÓN MAPFRE
Barbara De Braganza Exhibition Hall
Bárbara De Braganza, 13
28004 Madrid
Spain
exposiciones.fundacionmapfre.org
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FUNDACIÓN MAPFRE presents the most complete retrospective exhibit up to this day dedicated to the Czech photographer of French nationality Josef Koudelka (b. 1934), member for the past forty years of Magnum Photos agency.
Engineer by profession, Koudelka became committed to the photographic medium in the middle of the sixties and became one of the most influential authors of his generation. Halfway between the artistic and documentary, Josef Koudelka is now a living legend. He has received prestigious awards in recognition of his work, among others, the Grand Prix National de la Photographie (1989), the Grand prix Cartier-Bresson (1991), and the International Award in Photography of the Hasselblad Foundation (1992).
This exhibition goes through his entire trajectory that covers more than five decades of work. The extensive selection with more than 150 works reflects his first experimental projects produced at the end of the fifties and during the sixties, as well as his historic series “Gypsies, Invasion and Exiles” and reaching the great panoramic landscapes produced in the last years. In addition the exhibition includes important documentary material, the majority unpublished—layouts, pamphlets, magazines of the period, among others—that allows us to delve into the work as well as the creative process of this author.
The title of the exhibition is Uncertain Nationality, which describes the sense of not belonging to a place, a sense of disorientation so present in his work since his exile from Czechoslovakia after the invasion of Prague, and his permanent interest in territories in conflict.
The exhibition is organized by the Art Institute de Chicago and by the J. Paul Getty Museum in association with Fundación MAPFRE.