Andrea Santolaya. The Eagle. Four glances
Andrea Santolaya's gaze on El Águila
An extensive lot where the neo-Mudejar rooms of the old El Águila beer factory coexist, hand in hand with colored plates, glass and other contemporary materials. A space dedicated to the universe of letters. Some professionals who guard a treasure in Madrid. A complex that houses the Regional Library, the Regional Archive and the Historical Archive supplied with notarial protocols.
Who are they? What do they guard with such care and discipline?
The idea of heritage inspires the series of photographs that I present. The building that houses this place is transformed into a document, with flat images devoid of scale, while the interiors set the chiaroscuro of the long corridors. Its inhabitants appear, dressed in cotton robes and gloves. They hold and even embrace the chosen object, of special protection. They discover me documents, posters, manuscripts, boxes of photographic material. He would spend hours, months, years searching row by row, box by box, visiting the evidences of that other world.
I get lost in these inhabited spaces. What for many is a Holy House that preserves our origins, for me is an Aleph, where the past is present and the present is future. I reveal a community and its universe, inhabited by the weight of the protocols that allow us to understand who we are.
Andrea Santolaya placeholder image
Andrea Santolaya placeholder image
Andrea Santolaya has developed a personal and honest artistic language to portray the life of small communities, allowing a dialogue with the viewer in which the intimacy of the places and the characters that inhabit them is shown.
She has a degree in Fine Arts from the UCM with a specialty in Image Arts and a master's degree in Fine Arts Photography, Video and Related media at the School of Visual Arts, New York, with a thesis directed by photographer Larry Fink in 2010.
Since 2006 she has worked as a photographer for institutions in Europe and America, both public and private, from art galleries to museums: CA2M of the Community of Madrid, Palau de la Música in Valencia, Cisneros Caracas Collection, Marlborough NY Gallery or IVAM Museum, among Many others. His first solo show on female boxers, Around, was exhibited at the Marlborough Gallery in Madrid as part of the Off de Photoespaña 2011 Festival.
Of his artistic production, the realization of the making of of the documentary feature film The Honor of Injuries by Carlos García-Alix and the publication of several books such as In search and capture of Felipe Sandoval (T Editions) Manolo Valdes. Sculptures on Broadway (TF Editions) and Around (The Editions Office).
His work has been published in different media such as El País, El Mundo, Yo Dona Magazine, Esquire, El Nacional and Smithsonian Journeys. Andrea has been awarded several awards and scholarships such as the Pushkin Institute scholarship in Moscow or the Pico do Refugio artistic residency in Azores, Portugal.
More information on the official website of Andrea Santolaya
