Laurence Miller Gallery Exhibition                                               March 9 - April 29,  2006

 Joan Colom Gente del Raval

Laurence Miller Gallery will present the first United States exhibition of 84-year old Barcelona photographer Joan Colom from March 9 through April 29, 2006. Seventeen of Mr. Colom’s vintage black–and-white prints will be featured. From 1958 -1961, Mr. Colom made clandestine photographs in the red light district of Barcelona, often holding his camera at waist level so as not to attract the attention of the prostitutes and their patrons in the Raval, the poorest neighborhood of the city. 

Working in a style similar to his contemporary Robert Frank, Colom captured the inhabitants of this neighborhood as they solicited one another, joked among themselves, and expressed a vitality that otherwise could not be captured on film. Whether peeking out of a doorway, strutting down the street, or offering an inviting embrace, the ladies of the Raval exude a powerful sense of sexuality and a subtle self-assuredness that make the pictures mysterious and intriguing.

Colom first exhibited this series in 1961, at the Aixela Salon in Barcelona ; the show then traveled throughout Spain.
In 1964 the ground-breaking book Izas, Rabizas y Colipoterras was published with text by Camilo Jose Cela and photographs by Joan Colom. The book angered the regime of Franco, and the controversy that arose influenced Colom to distance himself from photography for the next 20 years. It was not until Brassai-Paris, Colom-Barcelona: Resonancias was published in 2003 that his work found a new and interested audience. This April Colom will be honored with a major exhibition at The Cartier-Bresson Foundation in Paris, and a new monograph from Steidl.

 (click image for detail view)

colom14.jpg (51690 bytes)

Raval # 14

 

 

 

colom35.jpg (27551 bytes)

Raval # 35

colom90.jpg (46657 bytes)

Raval # 90

colom100.jpg (51692 bytes)

Raval # 100

colom107.jpg (22496 bytes)

Raval # 107

 

 

 

colom110.jpg (60101 bytes)

Raval # 110

colom129.jpg (20209 bytes)

Raval # 129

colom132.jpg (38464 bytes)

Raval # 132

colom139.jpg (43824 bytes)

Raval # 139

 

 

 

colom143.jpg (22131 bytes)

Raval # 143

colom146.jpg (20552 bytes)

Raval # 146

colom261.jpg (27703 bytes)

Raval # 261

colom150.jpg (69770 bytes)

Raval # 150

 

 

 

colom157.jpg (57657 bytes)

Raval # 157

colom169.jpg (51697 bytes)

Raval # 169

colom148.jpg (44020 bytes)

Raval # 148

 

colom559.jpg (29083 bytes)

Raval # 559

 

 

 

 

 

 

Inquire about price and availability

 


 

Go to exhibition: Toshio Shibata: Reclamation

 

Home    Current Exhibition    Gallery News    Artists     Contact Us    Publications    Past Shows    Gallery Info

All content copyright 2006 Joan Colom. All rights reserved. No reproduction or republication without written permission.