Hasta La Ideas

Alessandra Sanguinetti, Untitled, From On The Sixth Day, 1996-2004, courtesy Yossi Milo Gallery, New York

A new exhibition of contemporary photography at Edel Assanti in London surveys the diverse styles of imagery being created in Latin America.

The show, which is curated by Sue Steward, brings together the work of nine different photographers from all over Latin America, and is a mixture of new talent with internationally established names. Much of the work has a documentary element: Argentinian photographer Alessandra Sanguinetti has two works on display that graphically chart life on her father’s farm, while Camila Rodrigo, from Peru, records the everyday life of her friends and family in Lima.

Camila Rodrigo, Zapatitos, 2008

Adriana Lestido, 09. Alma y Maura, 1995-98

There is a display of images by Mexican taxi driver-cum-photographer Oscar Fernando Gómez Rodíguez (previously seen on the CR blog here), who uses his taxi window to frame the bizarre, humorous and poignant activities he passes everyday, and a number of black-and-white works by Argentinian photographer Adriana Lestido, who documents the mother-daughter relationship in its varying forms.

Oscar Fernando Gómez Rodríguez, 24 de mayo 09

Dulce Pinzón, Bernabe Mendez from the State of Guerrero, 2005-10 (Works as a professional window cleaner in New York, he sends home 500 dollars a month)

Elements of fantasy creep into the everyday in a number of the works, most especially in a series by Dulce Pinzón from Mexico, who explores the role of the Mexican worker in New York. In a reaction to the humiliation of the workers that she has witnessed, her satirical images star real workers recast as superheroes. Information on their jobs and how much money they send to their family back home is listed in the titles of the works.

Juan Pablo Echeverri, Mucho Macho, 2008

Byron Marmol, Iván Rodríguez (Hisagi con zanpakutou en forma shikai: Kazeshini), 2010

Colombian photographer and filmmaker Juan Pablo Echeverri uses self-portraiture to explore some of the costumery most commonly associated with the region, with the exhibition including three images of him starring impassively at the viewer from behind differing wrestling masks. Byron Marmol, meanwhile, looks at a relatively new phenomenon among the youth in Guatemala, that of the practice of dressing as Japanese Manga characters.

Marcos Lopez, Camicera, Buenos Aires, 2005

Edouard Fraipont, Piel Island #2, 2007

Completing Between Two Worlds are works by critically acclaimed Argentinian photographer Marcos Lopez, who displays a powerful image of a female butcher, and Brazilian artist Edouard Fraipont, who presents two photographs completed during a British Council exhange programme in the UK. The dingy British light compelled Fraipont to work indoors, and the resulting images are ghostly and unnerving.

Between Two Worlds presents a rare opportunity to view such a wide survey of work from Latin America in the UK, and amply demonstrates the exciting photography being created in the region. The show continues until April 30, more info is here.

Unless otherwise stated, all works are © the artist and courtesy of Edel Assanti, London.