Julio Galeote, Excess n12, 2012. © Julio Galeote. Courtesy of the artist and The Photographers’ Gallery
A new generation of young photographers is blurring the line between photography and fine art, thereby renegotiating the boundaries between photography, installation and sculpture. A couple of weeks ago we showed you Dutch photographer Lonneke van der Palen’s highly constructed images in a fine art context. Now, Sleek speaks with Spanish photographer Julio Galeote about his entry at the 2014 “Fresh Faced + Wild Eyed” exhibition at The Photographers Gallery, and how a background in engineering shaped his present practice.
How did you first get involved with photos and photography?
There have always been cameras in my house. My father is really passionate about photography so I had been familiar with cameras and photography from when I was a child. After that, I studied photography while also studying engineering. And after that, I decided to do M.A. in Photography.
You graduated from the RCA for the Master’s program last year. Do you think that attending a school of such high calibre influenced your work and practice?
I think that RCA gives you the structure to produce work, but doing an M.A. at a prestigious school does not make your work better, of course. My work has changed in a few ways under those two years at the Royal College of the Arts. I think that right now it is less strict—I feel like I work more freely in the studio.
You were selected to be a part of this years “Fresh Faced + Wild Eyed” 2014 exhibition at The Photographers Gallery, how did that come about?
I thought it was a good opportunity to show my work, so I applied. It has a very interesting mentoring program where six people related to the art scene—directors, editors, other artists—select six artists from the exhibition, then working together over the course of a year. I was lucky to be one of the chosen artists and I am looking forward to working with my mentor in this time.
Who is your mentor?
It’s Sheyi Bankale, the curator and editor.
Julio Galeote, Excess n9, 2012. © Julio Galeote. Courtesy of the artist and The Photographers’ Gallery
Let’s talk more about your work. In the current issue of Sleek, we show works from the series, “Excess”. Can you tell me about that project: how it started; what it’s about,
In order to understand all the projects I make, I think it’s also good to know what kind of work I am making now, and what other series surround it. My art practice combines the idea of installation and representation through constructions usually made in studio, and then photographed and documented.
I photograph the fictional world around me through the construction of sets that relate to the fragility of all the systems that we set up. With the “Excess” body of work, I use discarded elements collected from commercial events. For me, I am always interested in the dismissed—in the no longer needed objects
What does it mean to be documented? I use that part of the old photography, of old character, of documentation that the medium of photography has itself. It is also related to the way that I make, or I construct, sceneries in the studio. It’s related with some kind of architectural or engineering background.
What do you do with the objects once you’ve found them and then photographed them and then built this installation—do you them throw them away after?
It’s a bit strange but I have some kind of relation with them, and once I make a picture with them, I just cannot throw them away. Now I have a really serious problem with space!
Read more art reviews and interviews in our Showroom section.