Utopia. PHotoEspaña 2008

Now, from the distance of half a century, a new generation of artists and photographers are looking at the utopian projects of the twentieth century. They do not celebrate what might have been, their concerns are more documentary in style, but in the process of making their work they allude to other concerns and ideas regarding the future. This interest in the legacy of modernism is reflected in the recurring theme of the modernist buildings built between the 1950’s and 1970’s. These relics of modernism can be seen either by the buildings being used as a backdrop to other concerns like memory, or a more direct interest in architecture and urbanism. That many of these buildings – constructed more then fifty years ago – are now in disrepair or being demolished, has given some contemporary artwork a particular quality of melancholy.

Paul Wombell, curator
[Excerpt of the text published in the exhibition leaflet]

Exhibition organised by the photography festival PHotoEspaña.