Max de Esteban

Max de Esteban is a Spanish art photographer. De Esteban holds an engineering degree from Universidad Politécnica de Cataluña, a MSc from Stanford University and a PhD in economics from Ramon Llull University. He is a Fulbright Alumni. De Esteban's work is organized in two distinct bodies: Elegies of Manumission and Propositions.

Elegies of Manumission and Propositions

De Esteban's work is organized in two distinct bodies: Elegies of Manumission and Propositions. The four elegies produced between 2010 and 2011 raise social and political questions through symbolic portraiture. Propositions, initiated in 2011, deal with contemporary art and political issues through photography and video. Propositions pose uncomfortable questions. In Proposition One, translucent X-ray images magnify mechanical devices that have become outdated, although they continue to function perfectly according to their purpose. In Proposition Three, de Esteban examines the cold, gray inner life of cell phones or tablets and the increasing enmeshment of the body and digital technology.

In Heads Will Roll, part four of the series, he uses seductive photo collages made of film stills, flower photos, and fragments of text to convey the essence of the parameters that are penetrated by the postmodern patchwork of our lives. The media define everyday life: we are permanently made to feel insecure by the wars and disasters that are always happening in the world; the individual is in danger of drowning in the masses; genuine and fake have become almost indistinguishable; and a vague fear of the East pervades political policy. Reality is largely conveyed as a media experience. Heads will Roll was listed as a photobook of the year by LensCulture magazine;^[1] its New York exhibition was shown on the cover of Photograph Magazine in its September–October, 2015 issue (Volume 13, Number 1);^[2] and Artslant said it was a "must see exhibitions in North America"^[3]

Publications

Publications by de Esteban

• Elegies of Manumission. USA: Nazraeli Press, 2012. ISBN 978-1-59005-337-9
• Heads will Roll. Spicer House Editions, 2013. ISBN 8461626362
• Heads will Roll. Germany: Hatje Cantz, 2014 ISBN 978-3-7757-3899-6
• Dictionary of Spanish Photographers. Madrid: La Fábrica, 2014. ISBN 8415691289
• Propositions. Madrid: La Fábrica, 2015. ISBN 978-84-16248-12-4

Publication with contribution by de Esteban

• Dictionary of Spanish photographers from XIX to XXI century. Madrid: La Fábrica, 2014.

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

• Fotofestiwal, Vertige. Lodz, Poland, 2010^[4]
• Spicer House, Don’t listen to me. Barcelona, Spain, 2010
• Klompching Gallery, Proposition One, New York, 2011^[5]
• Spicer House, Proposition One, Barcelona, Spain, 2011
• Central European House of Photography, Elegies. Bratislava, Slovakia, 2012
• Festival de la Luz, Proposition One, Buenos Aires. Argentina, 2102^[6]
• FotoQuartier Gallery, Elegies of Manumission, Vienna, Austria, 2013
• Uno Art Space, Propositions, Stuttgart, Germany, 2013
• Gallery NoW, Proposition One, Seoul, Korea, 2014
• PhotoVisa Festival of Photography, Heads will Roll, Krasnodar, Russia, 2014
• Deutsche Technik Museum, Vom Vergehen. Berlin, Germany, 2015^[7]
• Klompching Gallery, Proposition Four, New York, 2015^[8]
• La Fabrica, Heads will Roll, Madrid, Spain, 2016^[9]
• Fotofest Biennial, Heads will Roll, Houston, TX, 2016^[10]
• Gallery NoW, Heads will Roll, Seoul, Korea, 2016^[11]

Group exhibitions

• FotoTageTrier Triennial, Trier, Germany, 2010^[12]
• Fnac. Madrid and Barcelona, Spain, 2011
• Fotoventas. Madrid, Spain, 2011
• Photographers Network, Siegen, Germany, 2011^[13]
• Klompching Gallery, Winter Salon. New York, 2012^[14]
• Diemar/Noble Photography, The Gathering, London, 2012
• Post Script, Cork, Ireland, 2012
• Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Photo Forum, USA, 2012^[15]
• Rencontres Internationales, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, 2012^[16]
• AIPAD. Klompching Gallery, New York, 2013^[17]
• Welde Kunstpreis, Alte Feuerwache, Heidelberg, Germany, 2013
• Premios Lux, 20 años, Palau Robert, Barcelona, Spain, 2013^[18]
• Rencontres Internationales, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, 2013
• Städtische Galerie, Face-to-face, Iserlohn, Germany, 2013
• FestFoto-Diálogos Internacionais, Propositions,, Porto Alegre, Brazil, 2104
• AIPAD. Klompching Gallery, New York, 2104^[19]
• Videos FestFoto, Proposition Two, Porto Alegre, Brazil, 2014
• Darmstädter Tage der Fotografie, Darmstadt, Germany, 2014^[20]
• SOAF. Gallery NoW, Seoul, Korea, 2014
• Gallery NoW, Modern Memories, Seoul, Korea, 2014
• Korea International Art Fair, Gallery NoW, Seoul, Korea, 2014
• Fotofest, The Collector’s Eye: The Maloney Collection, Houston, TX, 2014^[21]
• Klompching Gallery, About Face:, New York, 2014^[22]
• SOAF, Gallery NoW, Seoul, Korea, 2015^[23]
• AIPAD, Klompching Gallery, New York, 2015^[24]
• Institute of Contemporary Art, Relics, San Jose, USA, 2015^[25]
• New Vision, Gallery NoW, Seoul, Korea, 2016
• AIPAD, Klompching Gallery, New York, 2016^[26]

Awards

• Grand Prix Jury's Special Award, Fotofestiwal 2010, Poland^[4]
• National Award of Professional Photography, 2010, Spain^[27]
• Encontros da Imagem, 2011, finalist, Portugal^[28]
• Rencontres Internationales 2012, Paris/Berlin/Madrid^[29]
• Welde Kunstpreis, 2013, nominated, Germany^[30]
• Gallery NoW Artist Award, 2014, Korea^[31]
• LensCulture, 2014 photo-books of the year, for Heads will Roll^[1]
• Discoveries of the Meeting Place exhibition, FotoFest 2016 Biennial, Houston, TX, 2016, for Proposition Four: Heads will Roll.^[32]

References

External links

• Official website
• Lens Culture
• Hatje Cantz Editor
• Klompching Gallery