Pedro Almodóvar's Photographs at 'Summer Vibes' Exhibition
21 August 2024
Renowned Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar recently visited Opera Gallery Madrid, where five of his photographs were displayed as part of 'Summer Vibes', a group exhibition celebrating the season through various mediums, styles, and colours.
Born in Calzada de Calatrava in the region of La Mancha, Almodóvar moved to Madrid at age 17. During the 1970s, he made films with friends, premiering them in the burgeoning Spanish counter-culture scene. Almodóvar quickly became a star of La Movida, the late 1970s and early 1980s pop cultural movement in Madrid. Today, Pedro Almodóvar stands as a leading figure in the film industry, celebrated for his acclaimed works such as All About My Mother (1999), Volver (2006), and Pain and Glory (2019).
Photography was a side practice for him, initially focusing on making “pleasant” pictures yet more than a hobby. In his 'Waiting for the Light' show at Marlborough Gallery in New York in 2019, he pairs wilting flowers against vividly painted backdrops, creating a series of still-life compositions inspired more by painting than photography.
The series began after viewing an exhibition on Madrid hyperrealist painters, including Antonio López. Inspired by the still-life paintings, Almodóvar took his first photograph of a simple flower in a glass. This sparked his interest in working with more items, focusing on the interplay of light and objects. Almodóvar states, “since I began my brief life as a photographer, I have always tried to imitate painting, not photography, without resorting to any special technique except waiting for the light that comes through the windows. My only task has been to wait for the exact moment, which varies depending on the season and at times it's a matter of a very few minutes.”
In his photographs, Almodóvar showcases the hundreds of items from his personal collection, many acquired during his travels, especially in New York. This use of objects, particularly his vase collection, draws inspiration from the works of Italian painter and printmaker Giorgio Morandi, whose art has always deeply moved Almodóvar. While the arrangement of various containers echoes Morandi's paintings, Almodóvar infuses his compositions with a more pop-inspired colour palette, which echoes the visual identity of his films.
Almodóvar describes his process as spontaneous, with no planning or organisation. Unlike the structured and solitary writing process for his films, photography serves as a form of anxiety relief, enabling him to observe his surroundings and arranging objects to capture natural sunlight in a specific way.
Almodóvar’s photographs Polyhedral Vase, Explosion of Spring 1, Explosion of Spring 3, Backgrounds in movement 1 and Backgrounds in movement 3, will be on view at Opera Gallery in Madrid during the ‘Summer Vibes’ exhibition until the 31 August 2024.
