Rodrigo Illescas
(Argentina)
Rodrigo Illescas was born in Bahia Blanca, Buenos Aires in 1983. Nowdays he is a professor at the University of Buenos Aires. He has published two books: “Also everything” and “Razia”.
He has exposed in (selection): Museum d’Arte Contemporanea di Roma, Italy; Museum of Fine Arts “Emilio Pettoruti”, Argentina; CCK, National Salon of Visual Art Award; Museum of Cultural History in Osnabrück, Germany; PhotoDays Festival, Croacia; Pilar Riberaygua Galery, Andorra; Festival Promenades of Vendome, France; Tatent Latent, International Festival of Tarragona, Spain; Contemporary Art Museum of Mar del Plata, Arg; Museo Provincial of Fine Arts “Timoteo Navarro”, Tucumán, Arg.; Museum of Fine Arts “Quinquela”, Arg.
Awards (selection): 1st Prize, Best Portfolio, Transversalidades Award, 2021; Honorable mention, Salón Nacional of Visual Art Award, 2021; 2d Prize, Xposure International Photography Awards, Arab Emirates, 2021; 1st Prize Felix Schoeller Photo Award, 2017; Finalista Leica, Oskar Barnack, 2015; Grand Prix, PhotoDays Festival, Rovinj, Croacia, 2015; 1st Prize, Portraiture, PoyLatam, México, 2015; Shortlist, portraiture, professional, Sony World Photography Awards, 2015; 1st Prize Mark Grosset, Promenades Festival of Vendome, France, 2014; Audience Award, Festival Promenades, 2014; 1st Prize IILA, Rome; Grant Macro – IILA, Rome, 2014; 1st Prize Photography, University of Belgrano Awards for Artistic Creation, Arg, 2014.
Works in collection: Museum of Arts and Crafts, Zagreb; National University of Villa Maria, Cordoba; Private Collections London; Private Collections Madrid, Spain; Andorra Private Collections.
The Cathedrals of Nostalgia
As cities grow they also leave behind- in the midst of desolation- pieces of their selves. That forgetfulness, that neglect is also part of their history. In spite of this side effects as society we keep on turning our backs on this situation. In Argentina, a single decision ended up with entire towns being thrown into oblivion. This decision had to do with the lack of financing and the subsequent closure of some train lines that connected the cities with the surrounding towns. The remains of this measure are entire towns in which their few remaining inhabitants fight for their memory, for their history as they embrace to an impossible hope. Each one of these inhabitants are like cathedrals of nostalgia that are erected in the middle of loneliness. They are immersed in the silence of their own fragments. Inhabiting incomplete, suppressed stories. But they are still there.
BTS Footage
Gallery
The Cathedrals of Nostalgia
Epilogue
