Hanmi Gallery is pleased to announce «Spaces in Transition», a showcase of work by four photographers who, in their practice, explore the idea of space and in particular, industrial spaces and buildings, often disused, as well as landscapes where human presence is strongly felt.  In these photographs, the viewer is often drawn to the physical consequences of the passage of time in the spaces captured, whether in the form of mere decay or the adoption of new uses. The works in Spaces in Transition echo the very space they are being presented in: Hanmi Gallery, which in its current condition is a shell where the structure of the building is exposed.

© Fernando Pérez Fraile

Hanmi Gallery is due to undergo major refurbishment but is currently open to the public with a program of interim exhibitions, of which Spaces in Transition is the 18th edition. The grand opening will take place in summer 2013.

Artists:

Alfonso Batalla has been living and working in Bilbao since 1986. Batalla was a finalist in Lux Photography prize in 2012 and was selected for the AENA Photography prize (2011). His most recent exhibitions include Res Nullius BilboArgazki 2012 and Paisajes Reconstruidos Galeria Vanguardia. Bilbao 2011. Batalla’s work is also shown regularly at Galería Ines Barrenechea, Madrid. Batalla’s selection for Spaces in Transitioncomes from an ongoing project that he calls «Rooms of Solitude», spaces devoid of people but filled with memories, hopes, frustrations and sorrows.

Batalla has commented about «Rooms of Solitude»: “The French term Solitude (loneliness) is a reference to Georges Moustaki’s song «Ma solitude» with curiously reminds me of my youth days of wine, roses, fun and people. As I grow older I assume that a certain degree on loneliness (being it physical loneliness or mental isolation) is necessary to think, to set up new ideas and projects, to fight our pains and fears, to know what we and our surroundings are truly made from.”

“These «rooms» are empty, completely devoid of people. But they are full with memories, hopes, frustrations, sorrows… The process of photographing purely architectural spaces generates quite «cold» or even inexpressive images which make the viewer feel ill at ease until he can fill those spaces with his own feelings. And this is an invitation to reflection, self analysis, possibly in relation with existentialism, a search for our own true essence. As Moustaki wrote «Non, je ne suis jamais seul avec ma solitude» (No, I am never alone with my loneliness).”

Fernando Pérez Fraile an architect as well as a photographer, owes his early interest in photography to his travels photographing the mysterious Romanesque churches and magnificent gothic cathedrals of his native Castille. His latest solo exhibition, “Spaces of Memory” was held at the Lightgallery in November 2012. The pictures selected for Spaces in Transition were taken during a number of trips to disused industrial spaces. In the artist’s words:

“I understand my work as an architect as a pursuit for beauty. What I strive to achieve is a world that is at least a bit better than the one I inherited. However, the process of creating a building is an extremely laborious one, requiring thousands of hours and countless meetings and discussions. In a way, photography allows me to find – and perhaps create – beauty in a much more straightforward way. Just me, a camera and the whole world around, revealing beauty in every detail.
“The pictures selected for Spaces in Transition were taken during a number of trips to disused industrial spaces. Getting access to these secluded worlds is not always easy. Once inside, I find an intoxicating mix of the things that most interest me as a photographer: space, light, texture, geometry and perhaps above all, silence.”

Site: Hanmi Gallery

Title: Spaces in Transition
Place: Hanmi Gallery
City: London
Country: UK
Date: 13 – 23 February 2013