Gaby Messina has worked on her Grandes Mujeres (Grand Women) series over the course of the past two years. During the development of this project she has brought together carefully selected pieces that in a combined form create a defining style in her work. Her depiction of the subjects, elderly women, is born from the first and lasting impression that she receives from each one. It is the tenderness and a faint expression of the artist’s influence that emerge as common characteristics in the images.
Although the portraits set out from that initial impression of each grandmother – as the author respectfully refers to her subjects – in due time, they reach their final visual structure by way of trails of conversation and colorful memories that each grandmother and the artist explore together. The relationship she establishes with the subjects of her photographs is of particular interest to Messina who seeks to build an intimate environment in which intimacy uncovers the most revealing themes of these grand women’s pasts. Only in some cases does she have personal ties to her characters. The majority of the photographs take shape through the words and expressions exchanged, often over a cup of tea, while the photographer transforms from a stranger into a loyal and trustworthy friend. In order to capture the essence of the scene Messina then carefully arranges the setting, paying special attention to poignant personal objects and befitting decorations, in which daily routine and staged scenery embrace.
Meticulous in the use of light and color and obsessed with the setting in which her characters pose, Messina is reminiscent of early twentieth century portrait photographers. They were patient and deliberate with an eye for detail. Rather than rely upon the use of framing or unusual perspectives, these photographers from a century ago focused on the physical appearance and fleeting expression of their subjects, only doing so once every other possible element of the photograph had been resolved.
Resume
Gaby Messina was born in Buenos Aires in 1971. She started her career as an advertising student at the Fundación de Altos Estudios en Ciencias Comerciales. After graduating, she worked in advertising agencies for 8 years until she finally got in touch with photography through courses assited in different local institutions.
She found in photography her deepest form of expression and started working as a professional advertising photographer.
She set up her own studio for 3 years and later joined the staff of one of the most important advertising photography studios in Argentina, www.mainardiimagenes.com, working there as an independent photographer to the present day.
Messina´s work reflects her longtime fascination with the portrait of the human different profiles and something more.
EXHIBITIONS AND AWARDS December 2005 Visual Arts awards 2005 Argentine Asociation Arts Galleries 2 mention (600 participants) Place Exhibicion: Fundacion Federico Jorge Klemm www.galeriasargentinas.com.ar www.fundacionfjklem.org October 2005 Atlanta Celebrates Photography Month Mason Murer gallery Exhibition Atlanta – USA www.masonmurer.com May 2005 First Award 3 Latinamerica competition Women: images and testimonies 7 edition – ECUADOR Directora: Lucia Mora January 2005 Aperture Magazine interview. Front cover Editor in chief: Melissa Harris www.aperture.org November 2004 First winner the best collection Fotoegara 2004 Terrassa Barcelona, SPAIN President: Sr. Frank Gómez www.fotoclubterrassa.com November 2004 Single Image Finalist Gallery London Photographic Awards competition – My Back Yard. Director: Kevin O´Connor wwww.london-photographic-awards.com August- september – october 2004 Individual en el Museum of Modern Art Medellín, COLOMBIA. Colombian Photography Meeting www.fotoencuentro.com September – october – november 2004 – XIII Festival of Light meeting 2004 Individual in the Pasquini López Museum, JUJUY, ARGENTINE. Director: Jorge Kulemeyer www.encuentrosabiertos.com.ar August 2004 – XIII Festival of Light meeting 2004 Individual in the Fundación Institucional, Parana, ARGENTINE. Director: Rocío S. de Muguruzza. June – july 2004 Grupal in the Feedback Gallery art contemporary Madrid,SPAIN. Director: Estefanía de la Torriente and Eva Mendoza. www.espaciofeedback.com March – april 2004 Individual Exposition San Martín´s Theatre PhotoGallery Buenos Aires, ARGENTINE Curator: Juan Travnik www.teatrosanmartin.com
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