Albarrán Cabrera Exhibition

Nailya Alexander Gallery

[Image: Albarrán Cabrera "The Mouth of Krishna" (2016) Pigment print on gampi paper and gold leaf.]

This event has ended.

Nailya Alexander Gallery presents the inaugural exhibition of Barcelona-based photographers Anna Cabrera and Angel Albarrán, known together as Albarrán Cabrera.

A rich inner philosophy about memory and wonder guide Albarrán Cabrera’s aesthetic practice. Collected from travels through Western Europe and Japan, their photographs linger on the grace and quietude in architecture and nature: deserted plazas, a swan’s craning neck, dark branches enveloped in cherry blossoms. Particularly inspired by Japanese aesthetics, Albarrán Cabrera’s artworks bring to mind the concept of Yūgen, or ineffable grace, as defined by the 19th century Japanese writer Daisetsu Suzuki:

It is something we feel within ourselves, and yet it is an object about which we can talk, it is an object of mutual communication only among those who have the feeling of it. It is hidden behind the clouds, but not entirely out of sight, for we feel its presence, its secret message being transmitted through the darkness, however impenetrable to the intellect. The feeling is all in all.

The artists tirelessly experiment with a diverse range of printing processes, creating photographs that evoke the distinctive patina of a beloved family heirloom. Handcrafted from gold leaf and Japanese gampi paper, each of their pigments prints is suffused with an ethereal glow. In addition to selenium and sepia, the artists have developed their own darkroom toners to add depth and richness to their artworks.

Albarrán Cabrera have produced prints for institutions such as Fundació La Pedrera, Barcelona; Fundació Toni Catany, Mallorca; and Reina Sofía Museum, Madrid. Private collections and institutions housing their photographs include Hermès, the Goetz Collection, Banco de Santander, and the Fundación de Ferrocarriles Españoles. Albarrán Cabrera’s first monograph Remembering the Future (Editorial RM) was released this month and will be available for purchase in the gallery.