Out of a long list of 26 artists, nominated by the curators of EMOP in the framework of distURBANces (the common project of the seven cities of the network), Dionisio Gonzalez has been selected by an international jury composed by Gunda Achleitner, curator; Municipal Department for Cultural Affairs of the City of Vienna; Paul di Felice, curator, coordinator of EMOP Luxembourg; Katia Reich, curator EMOP Berlin; Oliva Maria Rubio, Director La Fabrica, Madrid; Jean-Luc Soret, curator Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris.
In his huge photographs Dionisio Gonzalez invents new urban structures inspired from existing places like the Favelas in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paolo or the periphery of Buzan. Instead of the often-seen dramatic depictions of these megacities, housing millions of people, Gonzalez presents alternative survival strategies. His projected heterotopian spaces, as defined by Michel Foucault, give us multiple layers to imagine new urban and architectural situations.
The jury selected Dionisio Gonzalez for his innovative and social-political engaged work that extends the dialogue of contemporary art, photography, architecture and environmental ideas.
The jurors stated that Dionisio Gonzalez’s work reflects “the pertinence of the artist’s achievements in relation to the theme, high photographic quality, as well as a coherent artistic approach.”
www.dionisiogonzalez.es