Alicante hosts a Thursday talk at the PhotoSoul loop festival
In Alicante, a renowned photographer and writer brings a fresh offering this Thursday with a conference inside the Loop PhotoSoul festival, part of the PhotoAlicante celebration. The event spotlights the work of Chema Madoz, selected as the featured speaker for a session titled Found Item, Bad Item. The talk takes place at 20:15 in the Miguel Hernández de la Universitat d’Alicante venue, located in Ramon y Cajal, 4.
The cycle engages the public with a talk-colloquium format, inviting some of the most influential figures in image making, both men and women, who have shaped the history of photography. A streaming video will present a curated selection of the era’s standout pieces—roughly 40 to 50 photographs—while the session’s protagonist leads a discussion with participants and guests.
Loop Four Digits Photography began two weeks ago with an exploration of mentor-figure Henri Cartier-Bresson and continues this week with two acclaimed female writers, alongside a celebrated Spanish photographer like Chema Madoz. Nan Goldin and Sophie Calle, globally recognized for their excellence, will also be part of the conversation, with further dialogue anticipated in May’s 20th month programming.
The cycle centers on the idea that four artists each hold a distinctive, original photographic voice. Pepe Calvo, a researcher and lecturer with a long career in exhibitions and publishing since 1973, guides the audience through exhibitions in major galleries, museums, and art centers across Spain. His works are represented in several prominent museum collections, including IVAM in Valencia, the Charleroi Museum of Photography in Belgium, the Donostia Museum of Photography, the Jenkins and Romero collection in New York, Alicante’s ROTEN collection, the University of Southern Colorado in the United States, the Gravina Museum of Fine Arts, and additional institutions around the world. [Citation: Calvo’s curatorial contributions and collection inclusions]
“Chema Madoz’s photography moves between two deviant streams: surrealism and dadaism. It draws on the imaginative power of the extraordinary, creating visual paradoxes by reimagining ordinary objects. The images reveal meanings that depart from their usual purposes, combining visual clarity with poetic resonance. Objects become heroes in his universe, delivering messages beyond their literal function.” Calvo explains, noting that the work is less about the poem itself and more about the concrete facts that shape the artist’s creative decisions. This lends a sense of magical realism that echoes influences from trompe l’oeil masters like René Magritte and M.C. Escher, as well as the playful ideas of Joan Brossa and other ready-related movements to Marcel Duchamp’s ready-mades. [Citation: Madoz’s critical framing and influences]