{CTS} creative thriftshop

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CTS is proud to present Intimacy, 35 selected photographs from a collection of 100 images in a series by Spanish artist Victoria Campillo. Based on the successful reception of her work at Scope in both New York and Miami and the recent presentation of her work at Sitges in Spain this past September, this unique follow-up is the artist’s first American gallery exhibition. Arranged chromatically, the selected photographs highlight a distinct number of artists reflective of her conceptual oeuvre and study of image and language within the context of historical narrative.

Victoria Campillo is a kind of mad scientist; best described as an amalgam of photographic artist, art historian, and satirist all working in chorus to create her numerous series of photographs. Working at a frenetic pace, she produces hundreds of photos while presenting dizzying arrangements that concurrently tackle themes ranging from associating specific imagery with individual artists to the often-overlooked dominance of the male artist in modern and contemporary art, especially in her series Intimacy (2001) and also notable in Army (2009.) Aside from this, her recent series of work, including the aforementioned as well as Last Supper (2008) and Kids (2005,) is based on a repetitive motif, with a seemingly limitless prospect of variation in color, texture, and context. She develops her work around the concept of art itself, delving into the systems, power structures, and visual vocabulary inherent within the viewer’s established knowledge of the artists, as well as periods, which she depicts using a vernacular of objects and clothing.

While her subjects are thematically trivial or poignant, Campillo’s 15 series relay a testament to the inability to isolate narrative from imagery. A rejection of the image as a heroic and self-contained gesture defined this pop-instinct to duplicate and serialize an object until total dilution of meaning. As ubiquity becomes the anti-venom to singularity, Campillo’s encyclopedic appropriation of history finds itself within this duality of truth and fiction, credible histories or synthetic association. Her bisected portraiture or household props reveal a pluralistic approach to art history, displaying an insightful method of play between layers of narrative and self-contained meaning. By building an immense body of work, Campillo’s words and images overlap with limitless association and infinite references to a history already witnessed. Her serial process intersects this notion, demonstrating the layered complexity of representation in the context of history, while also reducing this hall of mirrors into a quizzical matching game of wooden elephants and split-pea soup.

Army (2009) is particularly unique in its self-reflective emphasis on photography, comprising an incredible survey of war-based imagery. An inclusive dialogue with the history of conflict, she often looks towards the theatrical re-staging of history in the photographic image. Army studies the role of war in the very nature of photography as a tool of truthful documentation with equal capacity to distort and refute this innate potential. As in all of her work, many of her cosmetic decisions directly toil with the potential for photography to rewrite history and re-configure narrative.

When conceptualizing a series, Campillo begins with an intensive amount of research. She gathers of materials to photograph in flea markets, shops, friends’ homes, or, in effect, anywhere she can. As a passionate collector of everyday items, such as the little pigs or toy houses featured in her photographs, Campillo is attracted to objects that exist in great quantities while holding symbolic significance. In a sense she is a collector of artists as well, eagerly seeking out new artists to enjoy and utilize in her work. Often acquiring many more objects than needed for a particular series, Campillo chooses those that best convey the desired association with a given artist. She