Let’s think about art. I think that it is the act of giving shape to the soul. Expressiveness of an artwork is not enough, it needs to have a spirit. When the spirit and the expressiveness come together, they open a window to a new world where many people feel transported to a place where they become aware of what it is like to live in the world.

Tadao Ando

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‍We have the pleasure of presenting extraordinary new works by Albarrán Cabrera. In the course of several months in quarantine, the artist duo developed a novel process in the studio in Barcelona by combining two print techniques from the last two centuries. They have created glass plates with tinted cyanotypes and gold leaf or Mica, paying homage to the warm golden hues in the work of Edward S. Curtis (1868-1952) and the blue shades characteristic of the cyanotype process invented by John Herschel (1792-1871). The duo’s intriguing works are incredibly detailed and their colours exquisitely nuanced, ranging from deep indigo shadows to patches of radiant amber light.

Anna Cabrera und Angel Albarrán in their own words: “Sometimes the available printing technology is not enough for you to show your vision. Then, it’s your option to change that. We have been very busy for the last months researching all kinds of publications and working very hard in the darkroom. We wanted to find new ways to show the concepts and ideas that we want to explain through our work. After a lot of trial and error, we are happy to have expanded our photography syntax with a different technique. We are following the steps of photography pioneers John Herschel and Edward S. Curtis using some of the primary materials of the medium: cyanotype, glass, gelatin and gold: no more, no less.”

The publication Pale Blue ● was released this week in a limited-edition of 500 copies. It is available as of today in our galleries in Zurich and Amsterdam (105 CHF / 90 Euros). We would be happy to ship the book home to you. And: Do let us know if you would like us to send you further documentation and a price list for Albarrán Cabrera: info@bildhalle.ch

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Pale Blue ● is a tribute to an iconic photograph and an iconic person: The photograph shows planet Earth taken by the Voyager spacecraft on 14 February 1990 from a record distance of some 6 billion kilometres. This modest view of the earth is known as “pale blue dot”. The person is astronomer Carl Sagan. In his book Pale Blue Dot, published in 1994, Sagan comments on what the photograph means to him:

“...There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.”

The book is a symbolic voyage back to the origins of the earth. When we think about the beginnings of our planet, everything seems to be connected to everything else. And it still is. We human beings are the only ones who feel detached.

Albarrán Cabrera, 2020

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The artist duo Angel Albarrán and Anna Cabrera (both born 1969, based in Barcelona) have spent a lot of time in Japan, and their travels to the country have strongly influenced the aesthetic choices in their work as well as the printing techniques they use.

The question running like a thread throughout their work is how images trigger individual memories in the viewer. Depending on their social and cultural backgrounds but also on their personal experience, viewers may perceive images in completely different ways. Albarrán Cabrera see their photographs as objects in their own right: they handcraft their prints using classic printing methods, such as platinum and silver halide, or invent new ones, such as pigment prints on gold leaves, creating reproductions that are unique in themselves. The poetic and sensual nature of these prints is proof of an unrivalled craftsmanship.

‍

Let’s think about art. I think that it is the act of giving shape to the soul. Expressiveness of an artwork is not enough, it needs to have a spirit. When the spirit and the expressiveness come together, they open a window to a new world where many people feel transported to a place where they become aware of what it is like to live in the world.

Tadao Ando

‍

‍We have the pleasure of presenting extraordinary new works by Albarrán Cabrera. In the course of several months in quarantine, the artist duo developed a novel process in the studio in Barcelona by combining two print techniques from the last two centuries. They have created glass plates with tinted cyanotypes and gold leaf or Mica, paying homage to the warm golden hues in the work of Edward S. Curtis (1868-1952) and the blue shades characteristic of the cyanotype process invented by John Herschel (1792-1871). The duo’s intriguing works are incredibly detailed and their colours exquisitely nuanced, ranging from deep indigo shadows to patches of radiant amber light.

Anna Cabrera und Angel Albarrán in their own words: “Sometimes the available printing technology is not enough for you to show your vision. Then, it’s your option to change that. We have been very busy for the last months researching all kinds of publications and working very hard in the darkroom. We wanted to find new ways to show the concepts and ideas that we want to explain through our work. After a lot of trial and error, we are happy to have expanded our photography syntax with a different technique. We are following the steps of photography pioneers John Herschel and Edward S. Curtis using some of the primary materials of the medium: cyanotype, glass, gelatin and gold: no more, no less.”

The publication Pale Blue ● was released this week in a limited-edition of 500 copies. It is available as of today in our galleries in Zurich and Amsterdam (105 CHF / 90 Euros). We would be happy to ship the book home to you. And: Do let us know if you would like us to send you further documentation and a price list for Albarrán Cabrera: info@bildhalle.ch

‍

Pale Blue ● is a tribute to an iconic photograph and an iconic person: The photograph shows planet Earth taken by the Voyager spacecraft on 14 February 1990 from a record distance of some 6 billion kilometres. This modest view of the earth is known as “pale blue dot”. The person is astronomer Carl Sagan. In his book Pale Blue Dot, published in 1994, Sagan comments on what the photograph means to him:

“...There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.”

The book is a symbolic voyage back to the origins of the earth. When we think about the beginnings of our planet, everything seems to be connected to everything else. And it still is. We human beings are the only ones who feel detached.

Albarrán Cabrera, 2020

‍

The artist duo Angel Albarrán and Anna Cabrera (both born 1969, based in Barcelona) have spent a lot of time in Japan, and their travels to the country have strongly influenced the aesthetic choices in their work as well as the printing techniques they use.

The question running like a thread throughout their work is how images trigger individual memories in the viewer. Depending on their social and cultural backgrounds but also on their personal experience, viewers may perceive images in completely different ways. Albarrán Cabrera see their photographs as objects in their own right: they handcraft their prints using classic printing methods, such as platinum and silver halide, or invent new ones, such as pigment prints on gold leaves, creating reproductions that are unique in themselves. The poetic and sensual nature of these prints is proof of an unrivalled craftsmanship.

‍