1,000 FACES/ 0 FACES/ 1 FACE…

An exhibit called 1,000 Faces / 0 Faces / 1 Face. Cindy Sherman, Thomas Ruff and Frank Montero Collado, by Fundación Telefónica, will be exposed through July 24 at the Alcala 31 Exhibition Hall within the framework of the 14th International Festival of Photography and Visual Arts (PhotoEspaña), whose activities encompass the making of 68 exhibits by 370 artists from 55 nations.

According to PhotoEspaña¡’s curator, Cuban critic Gerardo Mosquera, 1,000 Faces / 0 Faces / 1 Face… is one of the main exhibits within the festival since it brings together two of today’s greatest artists: Sherman and Ruff, whose works bank on the representation of the individual and, at the same time, shed light on the work of an unknown artist -Frank Montero Collado- whose photographs are being exposed for the first time ever.

Sherman uses himself as a represented subject to inquire about the traditional feminine stereotypes. His pictures question the nature of the self-portrait as they portray different characters striking a variety of poses. He tampers with resources from cinema, television and advertising, such as unfolding and puns.

Visibly drawn to lab work, Ruff relies on postproduction technical resources in a bid to underline the profound depersonalization of today and in which no moral or psychological inflections are allowed. The result is a self-portrait brought to the utmost level of objectivity, large-scale ID photos in which faces have been replaced by objects.

Frank Montero Collado, a Mexican photographer from the late 19th century and the early 20th century, left his only traces in the notes he wrote in his own photographs, notes that speak of his many facets and occupations: seminarian, opera singer, journalist, Methodist missionary; it’s an approach to a hardworking artist who left his testimony –without ever setting out to do so- through a series of self-portraits that the Fundación Telefónica is showcasing for the first time.