Diego Wisniacki
© Diego Wisniacki
Exhibition curator: Judith Rodriguez and Christian Diaz
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Curator Comment
English
Diego Wisniacki has been going through the streets by bicycle or on foot, but always with his camera for more than 30 years. He takes photos in the streets of the city where he is, whether in Buenos Aires, Berlin, or Cabo Polonio, in Uruguay, a place where by choice of its inhabitants there is no electricity, running water or public lighting.
The pandemic and confinement found him at home with his wife, their two teenage daughters and a cat. From there came the work Jufré, which soon took the form of a book.
Jufré is the name of the street where he lives.
What does Jufré name? A street, yes. But also images in a house that became the possible place of circulation when the streets were excluded from everyday life. Diego's gaze has been portraying that space in the same way that a street photographer would portray life in the city, with the same spontaneity, freshness and freedom.
The streets take on their identity thanks, in some way, to an anonymous but at the same time singular and never equal human group that gives them their own physiognomy day by day. Thus we can differentiate the streets of Paris from those of New York not only for their architecture but also for the cultural footprints that weave their history day by day, footstep after footstep.
In the same way, a place inhabited by the same person or group of people for a certain time, acquires an identity that represents them, as if it were a portrait that resembles them.
Certain objects are chosen. Others are excluded. Each one has its place, its time, its use that is repeated at the same hours, day after day. The game of exclusions and preferences, the accommodation of the
furniture, the choice of materials, the range of shapes and colours, the light sources, the reflection of a mirror, the image of King Kong on the bathroom wall, the mattress on the floor, order and disorder, the visible and the invisible, harmony and discrepancies, colors and shapes, lights, textures. A jumble of sheets of a thousand colors mixed with striped padding, pillows, blankets and rolled-up bodies. Order, disorder, panties hanging in the shower, the visible and the almost invisible but insinuated behind the steam in the bathroom, a candle on a cookie, an improvised chandelier, care and negligence, the way of inhabiting and organizing the available space in time and after reorganizing it into images that appropriate fragments whose image exceeds the frame of the photograph “Jufré. A street. A home”
But photography is something else. Something that happens in the space of the gaze that is neither street nor house. Photography invents a language, that is, a world. Jufre world. The everyday organizes things, as I said, in a style that insists on being the same. But Diego's gaze messes them up, gives them another meaning, makes them speak his language, in a harmonic and unrepeatable way. Given this invention, perhaps talking about genres like Street Photography becomes irrelevant Jufre is the name of a space that takes place in Diego's gaze, a gaze for which it doesn't matter where you are or what space it is. A look that turned confinement into a possibility of circulation and exit.
Spanish
Diego Wisniacki recorre en bicicleta o a pie, pero siempre con su cámara desde hace más de 30 años las calles de la ciudad donde se encuentre, ya sea en Buenos Aires, Berlín, o Cabo Polonio, en Uruguay, lugar donde por elección de sus habitantes no hay electricidad, agua corriente ni alumbrado público.
La pandemia y el confinamiento lo encontraron en su casa con su mujer, sus dos hijas adolescentes y un gato. De allí surgió la obra Jufré, que pronto tomó la forma de un libro. Jufré es el nombre de la calle donde vive.
¿Qué nombra Jufré? Una calle, sí. Pero también imágenes en una casa que se convirtió en el lugar de circulación posible cuando las calles quedaron excluidas de la vida cotidiana. La mirada de Diego fue retratando ese espacio de la misma manera que un fotógrafo callejero retrataría la vida en la ciudad, con la misma espontaneidad, frescura y libertad.
Las calles cobran su identidad gracias, de alguna manera a un colectivo humano anónimo pero a la vez singular y nunca igual a sí mismo que día a día les va dando fisonomía propia. Así podemos diferenciar las calles de París de las de Nueva York no solamente por su arquitectura sino además por las huellas culturales que tejen su historia día a día, pisada tras pisada.
De la misma manera, un lugar habitado por la misma persona o grupo de personas durante un cierto tiempo, adquiere una identidad que los representa, como si fuera un retrato que se les parece.
Se eligen ciertos objetos. Se excluyen otros. Cada uno tiene su lugar, su tiempo, su uso que se repite a las mismas horas, día a día . El juego de las exclusiones y las preferencias, el acomodo del
mobiliario, la elección de los materiales, la gama de formas y colores, las
fuentes de luz, el reflejo de un espejo, la imagen de King Kong en la pared del baño, el colchón en el piso, el orden y el desorden, lo visible y lo invisible, la armonía y las discordancias, colores y formas, luces, texturas. Un revoltijo de sábanas de mil colores mezcladas con un acolchado con rayas, almohadas, frazadas y cuerpos enrollados. Orden, desorden, bombachas colgadas en la ducha, lo visible y lo casi invisible pero insinuado detrás del vapor del baño, una vela sobre una galletita, candelabro improvisado, el cuidado y la negligencia, la manera de habitar y de organizar el espacio disponible en el tiempo y después de reorganizarlo en imágenes que se apropian de fragmentos cuya imagen excede el marco de la fotografía “Jufré calle. Jufré casa”.
Pero la fotografía es otra cosa. Algo que sucede en el espacio de la mirada que no es ni calle ni casa .La fotografía inventa un lenguaje, es decir un mundo. Mundo Jufré. Lo cotidiano ordena las cosas, como decía, en un estilo que insiste en ser igual. Pero la mirada de Diego las desordena, les da otro sentido, les hace hablar su idioma, de una manera armónica e irrepetible. Ante esta invención hablar de géneros quizás como Street Photography se vuelve irrelevante
Jufre es el nombre de un espacio que tiene lugar en la mirada de Diego, mirada para la cual no importa donde se esté o de qué espacio se trate. Una mirada que convirtió el encierro en posibilidad de circulación y salida.
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Artist Statement
The house as the street
The confinement due to the COVID-19 pandemic turned our family home into the only liveable space. With a lot of time at my disposal, I began to take photos of my family capturing our daily lives. I was in my element, I always liked to portray intimacy and the confinement brought this opportunity to my daily living. As a street photographer I have my camera with me all the time looking for images while reacting to the environment and the new way of living.
Jufre is the story of my family in a pandemic. A family which was already used to a certain isolation during beach vacations in a remote part of Uruguay. This experience facilitated our beginning of the pandemic isolation and made it easier for us to adapt to living together in the same space 24 hours a day. But it was different, it had no expiration date, it was our new reality.
Spanish
La casa como la calle
El confinamiento debido a la pandemia convirtió nuestra casa familiar en el único espacio transitable. Con mucho tiempo a mi disposición comencé a sacar fotos ahí, a mi familia, a nuestra cotidianeidad. Estaba en mi salsa,siempre me gustó retratar la intimidad, y en este caso era todo lo que había. Como un fotógrafo de calle estaba todo el tiempo con la cámara en mis manos buscando imágenes, reaccionando a esta nueva forma de vivir.
Jufre es la historia de mi familia en pandemia. Una familia que ya venia acostumbrada a cierto aislamiento vacacional en una playa de Uruguay sin agua corriente ni luz. Esto facilitó los primeros tiempos y a que nos amoldáramos más fácilmente a convivir en el mismo espacio las 24 horas. Pero era diferente, no tenía fecha de caducidad, era nuestra nueva realidad.
Interview:Christian Diazand and Patricia Ackerman
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About the Artist
English
Diego Wisniacki is a Physicist, Associate Professor at the University of Buenos Aires in Argentina and Principal researcher at the Conicet. His intimate relationship with photography spams for over 30 years despite not being a photographer by trade. Diego’s photographic journey began in 1994 with the Photographic Image Course by the Argentinian photographer Alberto Goldenstein which resulted in the individual exhibition 'En Transito' held in the Photo Gallery of the Ricardo Rojas Cultural Center in July 1997. Since then he has continued his love affair with photography and has recently reestablished a closer connection by participating in a workshop led by Valeria Bellusci and Alberto Goldenstein. During the confinement of the COVID-19 pandemic, Diego captured his family life in images that make up the book 'Jufre' edited by the publishing house ‘La Luminosa’ in 2022(https://laluminosaeditorial.com/jufre/).
Diego Wisniacki
ig @diegowisni
Mail: wisniacki@gmail.com
Spanish
Diego Wisniacki es Físico, Profesor Asociado de la Universidad de Buenos Aires en Argentina e Investigador Principal del Conicet (no se si en general la gentil del arts sabe que es el Conicet). Su íntima relación con la fotografía data de más de 30 años a pesar de no ser fotógrafo de oficio. El viaje fotográfico de Diego comenzó en 1994 con el Curso de Imagen Fotográfica del fotógrafo argentino Alberto Goldenstein que derivó en la exposición individual 'En Transito' realizada en el Photo Gallery del Centro Cultural Ricardo Rojas en julio de 1997. Desde entonces ha continuado su relación amorosa con la fotografía y recientemente ha restablecido una conexión más estrecha al participar en un taller impartido por Valeria Bellusci y Alberto Goldenstein. Durante el confinamiento por la pandemia del COVID-19, Diego plasmó su vida familiar en imágenes que componen el libro 'Jufre' editado por la editorial 'La Luminosa' en 2022 (https://laluminosaeditorial.com/jufre/).
Diego Wisniacki
ig @diegowisni
Mail: wisniacki@gmail.com
© Diego Wisniacki
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On VASA Exhibitions:
VASA, since 2008, has provided an international platform for individual and group exhibitions, collaborative exhibitions with various organizations and galleries and exhibitions that follow a particular theme or inquiry such as “Where Do We Go Now” curated by Rui Cepeda and the “Kharkiv School of Photography: Soviet Censorship to New Aesthetics” curated by Igor Manko.
VASA Exhibitions are international and multicultural. The curatorial team has strived to present work that not only represents the photographers but also the social, historical and cultural. As an online international project, VASA works to engage various digital tools. Video, as an example, not only offers the potential for the presentation of works, it provides the opportunity and framework for the voice of the author to be seen and heard. Through image, text, sound and animation, VASA works to expand the exhibition paradigm and provide a rich experience for the viewer (as well as the author).
VASA Exhibitions provides a viewing and research environment by archiving all of the exhibitions in their entirety. For example, the viewer may view a 2009 exhibition as it was presented and not just traces of its existence.
VASA Exhibitions (a program in VASA) includes images, videos and sound works.