Greta Alfaro
Spanish photographer Greta Alfaro was the first beneficiary of the Genesis Foundation Scholarship programme at the Royal College of Art, 2009-2011.
Following her graduation from the RCA the Genesis Foundation commissioned Greta’s first exhibition in the UK. The resulting show, A Very Crafty and Tricky Contrivance, ran from 28 September to 24 October 2012 in the Fish & Coal Building, Regent’s Canal in King’s Cross.
Curated by Flora Fairbairn, the exhibition showed a series of site-specific video and installation works in this abandoned semi-derelict Grade II listed building that directly inspired Greta’s work for this show.
The exhibition reflected Greta’s acute interest in the contrast between the ideals and rules of society, frequently imposed by the means of the image, and the actual private identity of the individual – hidden, without images.
Greta Alfaro works mainly in video, photography and installation. Her work deals with images from our cultural imagery, and is based on the intangible heritage that stays with us from our past. She refers to tradition, art history, tales and religion, updating its themes and relating them to today’s concerns.
John Studzinski, Chairman and Founder of the Genesis Foundation said at the show’s opening:
“Greta is undoubtedly one of the most talented young artists working in England. Her work is original, striking, provocative, witty and often profound. Such a combination is rare and so I’m delighted that the Genesis Foundation is continuing its support for Greta by presenting her first solo show.”
Greta Alfaro responded:
“I am excited to be creating new work to be exhibited at the evocative Fish and Coal building. The Genesis Foundation is offering me a wonderful opportunity in producing my first solo show in London, which it is both a challenge and a dream.”
Greta Alfaro was born in 1977 in Pamplona in Spain. She studied Fine Art at the Universidad Politécnica de Valencia and Fine Art Photography at the Royal College of Art in London in 2011. Alfaro has exhibited individually at Invención, curated by Andrea Paasch, Museum Ex Teresa Arte Actual, México City (2012); ELOGIO DE LA BESTIA. CENTRO DE ARTE CONTEMPORÁNEO HUARTE, Pamplona, Spain (2010), and In Ictu Oculi, curated by Antonia Gaeta, Carpe Diem Art & Research, Lisbon, Portugal (2009). Group shows include Whitechapel Open at the Whitechapel Gallery in London (2012); Bêtes off at La Conciergerie in Paris, (2011); Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2010 at the ICA London; Drama, Baby, Drama at Kunsthaus Essen, Germany, (2012), and Inanimate Beings, Inéditos at La Casa Encendida, Madrid, (2011). Her video work has also been screened at the Rencontres Internationales at the Pompidou in Paris (2010) and at the International Film Festival Rotterdam (2011). In 2011 she received the CAM art prize, Spain.
