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Biography

JOAN
FONTCUBERTA

After finishing his studies on Information Sciences, Joan Fontcuberta i Vilà (Barcelona, 1955) started developing an artistic work focused on the field of photography, combining it with teaching, essay writing, commissioning exhibitions as well as working as a historian.

His work has being very much focused on conflicts between nature, technology, photography, and truth

In his creative production he reviews images by carrying out multidisciplinary projects which explore the narrative and documentary condition of photography. On another aspect, he also explores historical procedures in the photography field as well as the possibilities of IT and AI tools.

He has exhibited his work in individual exhibitions in relevant art centers such as MoMa (New York, 1988), MIT (Cambridge, 1988), Musée Cantini (Marseille, 1990), Art Institute (Chicago, 1990), IVAM (Valencia, 1992), MNAC (Barcelona, 1999), Museum of Fine Arts (Fukui, Japan), Palazzo delle Esposizioni (Rome, 2001), ARTIUM (Vitoria, 2003), Australian Center of Photography (Sydney, 2007), Palau de la Virreina (Barcelona, 2008), MEP (Paris, 2014), and Science Museum (London, 2014).

His works of art have been acquired by state-financed collections such as Musée d’Art Moderne – Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Art Institute, Chicago; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco; National Gallery of Art, Ottawa; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid; MACBA, Barcelona, among others.

As a teacher, he has been a professor in the Faculty of Fine Arts of Barcelona and in Audiovisual Communication Studies of University Pompeu Fabra. He has also given classes in different international institutions such as the University of Harvard (United States) and Le Fresnoy / Studio National des Arts Contemporains in France.

Among other honours, Joan Fontcuberta was given the title of Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture in 1994. A few years later, in 1998, he was awarded Spain’s National Prize of Photography; and in 2001 he won Catalonia’s National Prize of Culture in Visual Arts and Spain’s National Prize of Essay Writing. In 2013 he was awarded the International Prize ‘Hassleblad’; and in 2016 with Barcelona City’s Prize of Essay Writing and Arts. This year, Université Paris VIII has given him the title of Doctor Honoris Causa.

timeline

  • 2019

  • 2016

  • 2012

  • 2004

  • 2002

  • 1998

  • 1989

  • 1987

  • 1974

2019. Prosopagnosia amb Pilar Rosado
Prosopagnosia amb Pilar Rosado
2016. Trauma
Trauma
2012. Gastropoda
Gastropoda
2004. Googlegrama - Abu Ghraib
Googlegrama - Abu Ghraib
2002. Miracles - Miracle de la criofloració
Miracles - Miracle de la criofloració
1998. Hemogrames - M.S
Hemogrames - M.S
1989. Fauna - Centaurus Neandertalensis amb Pere Formiguera
Fauna - Centaurus Neandertalensis amb Pere Formiguera
1987. Frottogrames - Agave Ferox
Frottogrames - Agave Ferox
1974. Les parets escolten
Les parets escolten