Ana Amado y Montse Zamorano: an exhibition

Being forced to stay home and not being able to travel leaves room for images to keep us company and help us take some imaginative journeys. To this end, the exhibition of works by two leading female architecture photographers from Spain has provided some interesting ideas. The exhibition called “Ana Amado y Montse Zamorano”, organised at the La Rioja Cultural Foundation of Architects (Fundación Cultural de los Arquitectos de La Rioja - FCAR) was curated by Javier Peña Ibáñez, founder and curator of the famous Concéntrico, the International Architecture and Design Festival in Logroño, the capital city of the autonomous region of La Rioja, encouraging new fields of design and architecture to reflect on the urban environment and the city. An approach that Ibáñez brings to the exhibition set-up in the beautiful rooms of Casa Palacio del Marqués de Legarda, the historic building that serves as the headquarters of the La Rioja Association of Architects in Logroño.
As part of the events dedicated to women in architecture, the exhibition Ana Amado y Montse Zamorano presents the works of two professionals, both architects and photographers, who have explored Madrid and New York through their respective cameras.
The Arquitecturas (re)visitadas series on the modern movement, by the Galician architect and photographer Ana Amado, consists of black and white images that revisit seminal buildings of 20^th-century Spanish architecture in Madrid. These include architecture like the Cedex building of the Centre of Hydrographic Studies (Centro de Estudios Hidrográficos del CEDEX) designed by the Spanish architect Miguel Fisac, showcased because of the exposed construction materials, as well as the Colegio Mayor César Carlos by Alejandro de la Sota the Hipódromo de la Zarzuela de Arniches by Domínguez y Torroja. As the photographer says, “these are tours of architecture recognized as 20^th-century masterpieces, somehow forgotten to many, so this work is a tribute to them or if you like, a new recognition”. 
The two series exhibited by Montse Zamorano, Deconstructing NYC and From Architecture are, instead, her vision of New York and some of the iconic buildings in cities like Shanghai and Madrid, where she also works as an architecture photographer. Deconstructing NYC is a collection of photographs of 100 buildings, taken in New York City over three years. The project reveals the ever-shifting landscape of this urban environment, capturing building sites in various stages of development. This is the first exhibition of a selection of these photos. 
As we wrote a few years ago, “Montse Zamorano compares the architectural photographer’s work with that of the translator, viewing photography as a way of expressing the architect’s ideas and intentions in an intelligible visual language.” While Deconstructing NYC takes a closer look at the construction process and urban change implemented by architecture in New York, From Architecture, explores the power of urban landmarks, portrayed with her understated style that doesn’t seek to stand out, rather it remains faithful to the subject she is conveying and also faithful to herself, because Zamorano sees herself as a go-between, interpreting architects for their audience. Indeed, because this function interacts with different users, it must find a common denominator to be perceived by the viewer. And what better way than a fine composition of the image?
The Ana Amado y Montse Zamorano exhibition is part of the La Rioja Women in Art Festival, aiming to spread and focus on the work of talented women across all the arts.

Christiane Bürklein

Exhibition: Ana Amado y Montse Zamorano (ARQUITECTURAS (RE)VISITADAS, DECONSTRUCTING NYC, DESDE LA ARQUITECTURA)
28 February to 15 March 2020
COAR exhibition hall Logroño, Spain
Organised by the La Rioja Cultural Foundation of Architects (Fundación Cultural de los Arquitectos de La Rioja - FCAR), curated by Javier Peña Ibáñez
Images: Montse Zamorano
Find out more: https://www.fundacioncoar.com/ana-amado-y-montse-zamorano