Jorge Ribalta (Barcelona, 1963) is a Catalan artist, researcher, editor, independent curator, art critic, and photographer. Considered a promising photographer in his youth, he won awards and then devoted himself for fifteen years mainly to curating.
Currently, he has returned to the photographic practice with series in which he makes observations on the cultural field, understood and presented as a result of the intersection of art, politics, economics, and history.
Between 1999 and 2009, he directed the Department of Public Programs of the MACBA (Museum of Contemporary Art of Barcelona). He is the author of the book Photographic Paradigms in Barcelona, 1860-2004 (2009) and editor of Indifference and Singularity. Photography in contemporary artistic thought (1997, 2003); Real effect. Postmodern debates on photography (2004); Public photographic spaces. Propaganda Exhibitions, from Pressa to The Family of Man, 1928-1955 (2009); The worker photography movement, 1926-1939. Essays and documents (2011); Barcelona International Photography Center (1978-1983) (2012); Not yet. On the reinvention of the documentary and the critique of modernity (2015) and Barcelona. The metropolis in the era of photography, 1860-2004 (2016).
He regularly publishes articles and essays in various media. His work has been seen, since his first exhibition at the Forum Gallery in Tarragona (1988), in solo shows such as the Zabriskie Gallery in New York (1994, 2000, 2005) and Paris (1996), Estrany-De la Mota (1998), Universidad de Salamanca (2006) and Casa sin fin (Cáceres, 2010; Madrid, 2011), as well as in numerous group exhibitions.
Among the exhibitions that he has curated in different centers, it is worth highlighting Documentary Processes. Testimonial Image, Subalternity and Public Sphere (2001); Jo Spence. Beyond the perfect image (2005); Barcelona, 1978-1997. Manolo Laguillo (2007); Universal Archive. The condition of the document and the modern photographic utopia (2008); Helen Levitt. Urban lyric. Photographs, 1936-1993 (2010); A harsh light, without compassion. The worker photography movement 1926-1939 (2011); Barcelona International Photography Center (1978-1983) (2012); I do the street. Joan Colom, photographs, 1957-2010 (2013); Not yet. On the reinvention of the documentary and the critique of modernity (2015) and Barcelona. The metropolis in the era of photography, 1860-2004 (2016).
Currently, he has returned to the photographic practice with series in which he makes observations on the cultural field, understood and presented as a result of the intersection of art, politics, economics, and history.
Between 1999 and 2009, he directed the Department of Public Programs of the MACBA (Museum of Contemporary Art of Barcelona). He is the author of the book Photographic Paradigms in Barcelona, 1860-2004 (2009) and editor of Indifference and Singularity. Photography in contemporary artistic thought (1997, 2003); Real effect. Postmodern debates on photography (2004); Public photographic spaces. Propaganda Exhibitions, from Pressa to The Family of Man, 1928-1955 (2009); The worker photography movement, 1926-1939. Essays and documents (2011); Barcelona International Photography Center (1978-1983) (2012); Not yet. On the reinvention of the documentary and the critique of modernity (2015) and Barcelona. The metropolis in the era of photography, 1860-2004 (2016).
He regularly publishes articles and essays in various media. His work has been seen, since his first exhibition at the Forum Gallery in Tarragona (1988), in solo shows such as the Zabriskie Gallery in New York (1994, 2000, 2005) and Paris (1996), Estrany-De la Mota (1998), Universidad de Salamanca (2006) and Casa sin fin (Cáceres, 2010; Madrid, 2011), as well as in numerous group exhibitions.
Among the exhibitions that he has curated in different centers, it is worth highlighting Documentary Processes. Testimonial Image, Subalternity and Public Sphere (2001); Jo Spence. Beyond the perfect image (2005); Barcelona, 1978-1997. Manolo Laguillo (2007); Universal Archive. The condition of the document and the modern photographic utopia (2008); Helen Levitt. Urban lyric. Photographs, 1936-1993 (2010); A harsh light, without compassion. The worker photography movement 1926-1939 (2011); Barcelona International Photography Center (1978-1983) (2012); I do the street. Joan Colom, photographs, 1957-2010 (2013); Not yet. On the reinvention of the documentary and the critique of modernity (2015) and Barcelona. The metropolis in the era of photography, 1860-2004 (2016).
