BIO >>
Juan Barte is a photographer, photobook editor, and cultural manager. Born and raised in Spain, his career led him to live in places like Los Angeles, Tokyo, Vientiane, Ibiza, or Madrid. In the past, he developed his career in graphic design for groups such as The Walt Disney Company. However, photography was always one of his main interests, so in 2014 he started to fully devote himself to his “obsession”.
Starting from a well-rounded conceptual base, Barte’s photographs aim to trigger reflections, debates, and actions, resulting in a body of work that goes beyond the mere photographic object being portrayed. This process can take years and involves extensive research on the subject matter, as well as close contact with the portrayed object, always presenting a broader, more complex, and diverse vision of the world.
Barte closes the shot on the portrayed subject, he focuses on the details by isolating them, getting very close, so that they become “beings” in their own right and no longer identify the portrayed person. We see fragments that, as the author, he uses to transmit what he wants to narrate.
The absence of a referent, typically the direct gaze of the person being portrayed looking into the camera, channels our attention to a multitude of details, producing a wide range of potential readings, interpretations, and meanings. Barte transforms the act of looking into an active process, a shared joy between the author and the audience.
The absence of a referent to channel the gaze, typically the direct gaze of the person being portrayed into the camera, causes a great number of details to capture our attention, producing a wide variety of possible readings, interpretations, and meanings. Barte transforms the act of looking into an active process, a shared joy between the author and the audience.
Barte involves the subjects of his photography in the process of the work. His goal is to reorder experience rather than simply document it and bend appearances to match his subjective narrative priorities. The resulting images are caught in a tension between the staged story and the testimonial record, imbued with fantasy as much as reality, unreliable and open-ended, thus reflecting the instability of our times.
The photography projects may last for years, with constant contact with the depicted subjects. This working process gives the pictures a natural intimacy that denies the audience the mere observer’s safe distance, all the while portraying a more complex and diverse representation of the world.
Barte’s work has been widely published in specialized media and exhibited in both galleries and public institutions. He also co-coordinates the Photobook Club Madrid actively promoting the spread of photography culture through different events. He also edits and designs photobooks and catalogues for other photographers.
EXHIBITIONS >>
2023 One Hundred and Eighty Degrees. Solo exhibition. C.I.C.U.S. Sevilla
2022 Coesistenza. Group exhibition. Outdoors, Bergamo. Italia
2020 One Hundred and Eighty Degrees. Solo exhibition. Espacio Valverde. Madrid
2018 We Are Made of Stars. Solo exhibition. The Estate of Robert W. Munford. Dennysville, Maine
2017 Espacio Raw Collection. Group Exhibition (Eduardo Momeñe, Oukalele, Isabel Muñoz, Luis Baylón…). Huete National Museum of Photography-Antonio Pérez Foundation. Huete
2016 Pop-up. Group exhibition. Alvaro Alcázar Gallery, Madrid
2016 La Poética de la Libertad-Alta Expresión. Group exhibition (Ai Weiwei, Canogar, Chirino, Farreras, Feito, Galindo). Cathedral of Cuenca. IV Centennial Anniversary Celebration of Cervantes’ Death, Cuenca
2016 Ibicenco. Group exhibition. Touring the island of Ibiza
2015 Ibiza Naked White. Solo exhibition. Pacha The Gallery, Ibiza
2015 Ibiza de Luz. Solo exhibition. Espai Cultural Sa Punta des Molí. San Antonio, Ibiza
2015 Masks. Online group exhibition. Lenscratch Magazine. Cleveland, Ohio
2015 Music Time. Group exhibition. Curated by Dis Berlín. My Name is Lolita gallery, Madrid
2014 Art’s B-side. Installation with Alicia Sen. La Cárcel Cultural Center, Segovia
COLLECTIONS >>
The Robert Munford Estate. Dennysville, Maine. USA
National Museum of Photography-Antonio Pérez Foundation. Huete, Spain
MER Collection. Segovia, Spain
Font-Irwin Collection. London
Guillermo de Osma Collection. Madrid, Spain
Jimmy Belilty Collection. Caracas, Venezuela
Martín Chirino Art and Think Tank Foundation. Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain
Santandreu Collection. Mallorca, Spain
Jorge Virgili Collection. Madrid, Spain
LIBRARIES >>
New York Public Library. New York
Getty Research Institute. Los Angeles
Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía. Madrid
Foto Colectania Foundation. Barcelona
Arte X Arte Foundation. Buenos Aires
San Telmo Museum. San Sebastian
Universidad Complutense Fine Art Department. Madrid
PRESS >>
2023 The Pictorial List. Freedom Tastes of Reality: In Conversation with Juan Barte. Interview
2022 Revista Bilderstrum, Freedom Tastes of Reality. Book review
2022 Photobook Journal, Freedom Tastes of Reality. Book review
2022 Josef Chladek Virtual Book Shelf, Freedom Tastes of Reality. Book review
2021 LF Magazine, Juan Barte Publica Freedom Tastes of Reality. Interview
2021 Revista Metal. La Descorporización Hecha Imagen. Interview
2021 Neo2. Freedom Tastes of Reality de Juan Barte. Interview
2020 PAC, Plataforma de Arte Contemporáneo, Freedom Tastes of Reality. Book review
2018 Beis Revista de Arte Contemporáneo. Disfruta. Interview
2017 The Best of Ibiza Magazine. Ibiza 6·9. Portfolio showcase
AWARDS / RESIDENCIES >>
2021 VEGAP grant. Madrid, Spain
2019 Shortlisted for PhotoLondon Book Dummy Award. London, UK
2017 Fellow at NAHR, Nature, Art & Habitat Residency. Taleggio, Italy
PUBLICATIONS >>
2022 Freedom Tastes of Reality. Trade edition, second print
2021 Nature, Art & Habitat: Val Taleggio. Photobook published by NAHR. Bergamo, Italy
2021 Fuego en los Bolsillos: Esther Ferrer, Concha Jerez. Two issues of this zine collection
2021 Freedom Tastes of Reality. Trade edition
2020 Freedom Tastes of Reality. Photobook published by Formidable Books. Madrid
2020 Un Tiempo Interrumpido. Insert in José Luis Alexanco’s exhibition catalogue with artist’s portraits
2019 Fuego en los Bolsillos: Enrique Salamanca, Luis Lugán e Ignacio Gómez de Liaño. Three issues of this series
2019 Ibiza Blanco Desnudo +. Photobook commissioned by hotel Hacienda Na Xamena
2019 Gisela G. Ibiza. Look book commissioned by this fashion brand2018 Fuego en los bolisllos: Manuel Calvo. Zine collection
2018 We Are Made of Stars. Solo exhibition catalogue Published by The Estate of Robert Munford.
2017 Tendencias del Arte. Photo editorial on artist Carlos Franco
2016 Dreck Magazine (UK). Ibiza Naked White. Reportage on my project Ibiza Blanco Desnudo
2016 Ibiza Blanco Desnudo (Ibiza Naked White). Photobook published by Ibiza Gran Hotel
2015 El Comercio Sunday magazine cover. Photo editorial on artist Manuel Calvo portraits
2015 El Diario de Canarias, Sunday magazine. Eugenio Merino
2014 Francisco Farreras. Artist’s portraits for the exhibition catalogue
2014 El Año Que Crecí. Guillermo Mora. Artist’s portraits for the exhibition catalogue
2013 IVAM, Instituto Valenciano de Arte Moderno. Rafael Canogar. Artist’s portraits for the exhibition catalogue
2013 La Galerie des Pentes (France) Biennale de Lyon. Abel Azcona. Artist’s portrait for the exhibition poster
CONTACT: barte (at) juanbarte.com