Isabel Muñoz

1951 | Barcelona, Spain
Informations
Isabel Muñoz — AWARE Women artists / Femmes artistes

© Isabel Muñoz

Sponsor
— Isabel Muñoz

Spanish photographer.

In the early 1970s Isabel Muñoz studied photography at the Photocentro in Madrid, and later in the Department of Visual and Cultural Studies at the University of Rochester, New York. She returned to the United States several times to familiarise herself with different shooting and dark-room techniques. Her first solo exhibition took place in Madrid in 1986, marking the beginning of a long series. Since the mid-1970s she has developed a body of work that presents itself as a true hymn to the human body and its manifold expressive possibilities. Through photography, she seeks to capture the body’s movement, notably through dance, which constitutes a privileged means of expression. This guiding thread underpins all of her series; the theme of each is the result of a journey, an encounter with a new population. The photographer explores all kinds of dance: classical, contemporary, popular and folk – the universe of flamenco (Flamenco, 1989), tango (Tango, 1989), Asian dance (Danse orientale, 1992), Cuban dance (Danza cubana, 1995) and classical ballet (Ballet nacional de Cuba, 2001).

Her questioning of the body in movement extends to other types of corporeal languages, such as wrestling (Lucha turca), martial arts (Capoeira, 2000), contortion (Contortionistas, 1998) and bullfighting (Toros, 1992). Certain series, such as Man and Suma Etiopia (2002-2006), are dedicated to the body as an expressive medium, for example scarified or modified bodies. The artist’s attempt to take account of all bodily emotions, and to translate their language, is enhanced by the use of the platinotype, an old photographic process, characteristic of her work, which allows her to sublimate the texture and nuances of the bodies represented. Following a slow process, she works with material and makes her own prints – typically large-format black-and-white images, though colour makes occasional appearances, notably in her more recent series (Maras; Amor y extasis [Love and ecstasy]). Thus, while reviving a certain tradition of photography, I. Muñoz stands out for her personal and poetic vision of the body, which makes her one of the great figures of Spanish photography.

Ludovic Delalande

Translated from the French by Katia Porro.

From the Dictionnaire universel des créatrices
© 2013 Des femmes – Antoinette Fouque
© Archives of Women Artists, Research and Exhibitions
Isabel Muñoz — AWARE Women artists / Femmes artistes

Isabel Muñoz, Tango, 1989, platinum print on handmade paper, 36.5 x 55.5cm, © Isabel Muñoz

Isabel Muñoz — AWARE Women artists / Femmes artistes

Isabel Muñoz, Danza cubana [Cuban Dance], 1995, platinotype, 60 x 80 cm, © Isabel Muñoz

Isabel Muñoz — AWARE Women artists / Femmes artistes

Isabel Muñoz, Danza Khmer [Khmer Dance], undated, silver sluminium print on barite paper, 105 x 80 cm, © Isabel Muñoz

Isabel Muñoz — AWARE Women artists / Femmes artistes

Isabel Muñoz, Etiopia, 2005, platinum print, 56.5 x 46 cm, © Isabel Muñoz

Isabel Muñoz — AWARE Women artists / Femmes artistes

Isabel Muñoz, Maras, 2007, digital print, © Isabel Muñoz

Isabel Muñoz — AWARE Women artists / Femmes artistes

Isabel Muñoz, Mavlevi Series, 2008, giclee, 100 x 100 cm, © Isabel Muñoz

Isabel Muñoz — AWARE Women artists / Femmes artistes

Isabel Muñoz, Primates, 2013, platinotype, 60 × 80 cm, © Isabel Muñoz

Isabel Muñoz — AWARE Women artists / Femmes artistes

Isabel Muñoz, 9 Gods Series, 2017, color platinium print, 110 x 100 cm, © Isabel Muñoz

Isabel Muñoz — AWARE Women artists / Femmes artistes

Isabel Muñoz, Japon Series, 2018, platinotype, 60 x 80cm, © Isabel Muñoz

Isabel Muñoz — AWARE Women artists / Femmes artistes

Isabel Muñoz, Japon Series, 2018, platinotype, 60 x 80cm, © Isabel Muñoz

Artists
Discover other artists

Archives
of Women Artists
Research
& Exhibitions

Facebook - AWARE Twitter - AWARE Instagram - AWARE
Villa Vassilieff - 21, avenue du Maine 75015 Paris (France) — info[at]aware-art[.]org — +33 (0)1 55 26 90 29