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Fundación Mapfre opens its photography exhibitions in Madrid free of charge
Fundación Mapfre celebrated World Photography Day this Wednesday, 19 August, with free admission to its two exhibitions at Sala Recoletos. Visitors were able to see the exhibitions dedicated to Richard Avedon and Alejandro Cartagena at no cost; both shows will remain open in Madrid until 30 August.
Richard Avedon. In the American West, 1979-1984 revisits one of the best-known projects by the American photographer. His portraits place miners, workers, lorry drivers, young people and other inhabitants of the country’s west before the camera, photographed against white backgrounds that eliminate almost every distraction.
The series deliberately moves away from the epic image of the American West. Avedon focuses all attention on faces, bodies, clothing and gestures, creating a social portrait of people who rarely occupied the foreground of artistic photography at that time.
The second exhibition, Alejandro Cartagena. Ground Rules, spans more than twenty years of work by the Dominican-born photographer based in Monterrey. His images focus on issues such as housing, urban expansion, migration and the border between Mexico and the United States.
Cartagena uses the urban landscape to show how decisions about territory and housing end up affecting everyday life. Housing developments growing on the outskirts, daily journeys and transformations of the environment form part of an exhibition that readily connects with debates also affecting major cities such as Madrid.
The two exhibitions can be visited at Sala Recoletos, at number 23 on Paseo de Recoletos. After Wednesday’s free day, general admission returns to a price of 5 euros, although access is free from 14:00 to 20:00 on non-holiday Mondays.
Both exhibitions will remain open until Sunday 30 August, so there are still several days left to visit them. The gallery is open Tuesday to Saturday from 11:00 to 20:00, Sundays and public holidays from 11:00 to 19:00, and Mondays, except public holidays, from 14:00.
In the final stretch of August, Recoletos thus gains a cultural refuge from the heat and two very different views of contemporary society. From the workers photographed by Avedon to the urban growth observed by Cartagena, the visit allows visitors to encounter, in just a few rooms, two ways of using the camera to talk about how and where we live.