Pieter Hugo / Hacer Noche
Through February 5, 2019 / CFMAB

Pieter Hugo

South African photographer Pieter Hugo, known for his candid portraits often depicting people on the periphery of mainstream society, has produced a salient series of work in Mexico. An April visit to Chapultepec Castle in Mexico City was the starting point for Aquí se rompió una taza, part of which is on show at Centro Fotográfico Manuel Álvarez Bravo in Oaxaca de Juárez.

 

Pieter Hugo

Pieter Hugo

Pieter Hugo

Hugo was struck by David Alfaro Siqueiros’s room-spanning mural in the castle: Del Porfirismo a la Revolución. ‘It’s like a photo essay in one huge painting,’ he says, ‘As opposed to the journalistic approach of capturing one moment, muralism takes on multiple facets of history, depicting various sequences and the consequences of events.’

It’s a space Hugo inhabits, too, his work flitting between art, documentary and theatrical presentation. His photograph of garbage collectors, who are part of a street theatre troupe, mimics a protest scene from Siqueiros’ mural, their direct gazes a signature of Hugo’s portraiture.

 

Pieter Hugo

Pieter Hugo

Pieter Hugo

Known to challenge perceptions through the intimate presentation of his subjects, Hugo wished to capture a different side to Juchitán’s muxe culture (people whose birth sex is male but who identify as female). Having seen images of this third gender predominantly presented as playful and youthful, he sought to create an alternative narrative by placing an older generation before his lens. ‘I create a space for people to present themselves as they want to be seen,’ says the photographer, pointing to the portrait of an elegant elderly muxe adorned in golden jewelry.

 

Pieter Hugo

Pieter Hugo

An encounter with a man who lives on the nudist beach of Zipolite resulted in a naked portrait on a donkey, while a conversation with a sex worker led to capturing her flaunting bright pink make-up – an image far removed from her previous life as a police officer. ‘Mexicans have a very strong visual sensibility,’ says the artist of his latest subjects. ‘They get it.’

–Tracy Lynn Chemaly / Wallpaper*

Pieter Hugo / Hacer Noche
Through February 5, 2019 / CFMAB Centro Fotográfico Manuel Álvarez Bravo
Read full article >
Visit the exhibition page >

Dorothea Lange. Tales of Life and Work
Camera / Jul 19 – Oct 8, 2023
Dorothea Lange's photography, now nearly a hundred years later, continues to resound in its portrayal of a time and...
+
Momentum 12: Together As To Gather
Jun 10 – Oct 8, 2023
For the biennale, Tenthaus practices a gathering methodology. The intention is to begin from the practices of the artists...
+
Joel Sternfeld: American Prospects
Sep 28, 2023 – Jan 21, 2024
American Prospects has enjoyed a life of acclaim. Its pages are filled with unexpected excitement, despair, tenderness and hope....
+
REGENERATE
Jun 23 – Dec 10, 2023
With REGENERATE as its theme, the festival brings together works that explore the changes modern society must face, seeing...
+
The Unspoken Things
Photo Series
The Unspoken Things series is inspired by ethnographic texts that deal with the body as a cultural phenomenon, drawing...
+
ARTPIL / Prescription .142
White heat. A Green River.
A bridge, scorched yellow palms from the summer-sleeping house drowsing through August. Days I have held, days I have...
+
Rencontres d’Arles 2023
A State of Consciousness
Every year, Rencontres d’Arles captures our world’s state of consciousness. Its photographers, artists, and curators help us to see...
+
Edith Dekyndt / L’Origine des Choses
Feb 8 – Dec 12, 2023
Inspired by Bruno Latour’s “actants” Edith Dekyndt defines her compositions and her objects as “patient” because all these objects...
+
Dorothea Lange. Tales of Life and Work
Camera / Jul 19 – Oct 8, 2023
Dorothea Lange's photography, now nearly a hundred years later, continues to resound in its portrayal of a time and...
+
Momentum 12: Together As To Gather
Jun 10 – Oct 8, 2023
For the biennale, Tenthaus practices a gathering methodology. The intention is to begin from the practices of the artists...
+
Joel Sternfeld: American Prospects
Sep 28, 2023 – Jan 21, 2024
American Prospects has enjoyed a life of acclaim. Its pages are filled with unexpected excitement, despair, tenderness and hope. Its fears are expressed in beauty, its sadnesses in irony.
+
REGENERATE
Jun 23 – Dec 10, 2023
With REGENERATE as its theme, the festival brings together works that explore the changes modern society must face, seeing...
+
The Unspoken Things
Photo Series
The Unspoken Things series is inspired by ethnographic texts that deal with the body as a cultural phenomenon, drawing...
+
ARTPIL / Prescription .142
White heat. A Green River.
A bridge, scorched yellow palms from the summer-sleeping house drowsing through August. Days I have held, days I have lost, days that outgrow
+
Rencontres d’Arles 2023
A State of Consciousness
Every year, Rencontres d’Arles captures our world’s state of consciousness. Its photographers, artists, and curators help us to see...
+
Edith Dekyndt / L’Origine des Choses
Feb 8 – Dec 12, 2023
Inspired by Bruno Latour’s “actants” Edith Dekyndt defines her compositions and her objects as “patient” because all these objects...
+