Our gallery is honored to present Bajo mis pies fue primavera, the first solo exhibition by the artist Andrea Torres Balaguer in Madrid.

Numerous international and national awards and recognitions have consolidated, in the last few years, the successful artistic career of the young photographer. The Catalan artist was selected to be the image of the opera Aida at the National Opera of Paris in 2021 and has had solo exhibitions in renowned foundations such as the Vilacasas Foundation. She is currently the youngest woman to have a solo exhibition at the prestigious Museum of Montserrat in Barcelona and her works, linked to the world of fashion and haute couture, have been featured in publications such as Harper's Bazaar or Vogue.

The exhibition, one of the most special and awaited by the artist, gathers a total of six unpublished photographs, the result of her recent collaboration with the French fashion house Dior, and her photographic interpretation of the "Crucero Dior 2023" collection. A tribute to Spanish tradition and craftsmanship, for which Maria Grazia Chiuri, the brand's current creative director, takes Andalusian folklore as her main source of inspiration.

Reminiscent of the popular fairs from the south of Spain, the craftsmanship of traditional processes (embroidery and leather treatment) and art in all his disciplines (music, deep song and dance), the collection revisits the Andalusian aesthetic and cultural references. References embodied by characters from musical culture such as Carmen Amaya, popularly known as "La Capitana", or from literature, such as the Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca, from whom Andrea Torres takes a verse from his sonnet "El poeta habla por teléfono con el amor", to give name to the exhibition.

In keeping with the inspiration behind the collection, Andrea Torres Balaguer translates these concepts into her interest in light and textures in this new series of intervened photographs, where black, red and gold predominate, reflecting shadows, flowers and the light of the sun. Works to which he adds the symbolism and mystery characteristic of his previous works.

Strength and fragility are combined in the representation of his female characters of classical appearance, but with a contemporary personality, as well as in the use of the intervention techniques: on the one hand, the brushstroke, abrupt, consistent and determined, on the other hand, the artisanal technique of gold leaf: delicate, persevering and meditative.

Press release courtesy Alzueta Gallery.