Throughout his long and prolific career, Eugeni Forcano – a self-taught photographer – displayed a constant fascination with the world around him. His approach, based on catching the fleeting moments he found most appealing, enabled him to capture images that together provide an account of a key period in Spanish history; the late post-war period and Franco’s dictatorship. His work focuses especially on two essential interests: the human dimension and social events. People – city-dwellers and country folk – make up the central corpus of the works on show. The exhibition comprises eleven sections, devoted to themes that obsessed him. Apart from his key pieces in black and white, it also looks at his experimental work in colour; astonishing images conveying clear echoes of Surrealism and Abstraction. The exhibition includes books, magazines and a programme on Forcano as part of the documentary series La voz de la imagen.
Eugeni Forcano i Andreu (Canet de Mar, 1926) became a professional photographer in 1959, and in 1960 joined the weekly magazine Destino. He and his brother founded the Estudios Forcano, which specialised in portraits, illustrations, fashion and advertising. His work has appeared in numerous publications, and his own books include Guía de Barcelona (1964) and Festa Mayor (1969). In 2005, he was awarded the Barcelona Gold Medal, and the following year was the subject of a major anthological exhibition: Eugeni Forcano. Photography, 1960-1996 (Lunwerg, 2006). In 2012, he received the National Photography Prize and also the Creu de Sant Jordi, awarded by the Regional Government of Catalonia.
Curator: Daniel Giralt-Miracle
Dates: 18 July– 31 August
Sponsored and organized by: Subdirección General de Promoción de las Bellas Artes.
Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte
In collaboration with: Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando
