China Masterclass with Joan Villaplana: Beauty, Ugliness and the Sublime in Contemporary Photography

Joan Villaplana is the technical teacher of stone sculpture in the Fine Arts University of Barcelona. He also teaches in the European Master of Fine Art Photography in the Istituto Europeo di Design, Madrid, in Idep Barcelona (Universitat Abat Oliva), in the Master in Photography and Design in Elisava (Universitat Pompeu Fabra).

After the great success of our workshops in India, Manila, and Tokyo, we continue our workshop program of IED-Madrid and EMAHO Magazine with Joan Villaplana, at the Central Studios in Shanghai, on Sept 7, and at the Pingyao International Photography Festival, China, on Sept. 21.

CONCEPT

Beauty has been marginalized in the Western Arts for decades. In contemporary photography, Ugliness and the Romantic concept of the Sublime have been taken its place. What is our problem with beautiful images? Why do we ban them, and, could beauty recover its central position in art? This workshop analyses the role of the Sublime in contemporary landscape and cityscapes, and questions why are we interested in the ugliness of our societies. We will also debate the Chinese conception of beauty related to the Western concept of aesthetics and image making. During this one-day workshop, IED faculty member Joan Villaplana will analyse the basic aesthetic concepts of contemporary fine art tendencies and talk about its visual language. Working from examples of selected photographic projects, he will show current tendencies in dialogue with other media, such as traditional and contemporary painting, video and cinema.

Apart from learning about the theoretical concepts, the participants will find out which cameras and techniques are most suitable for which kind of themes: small or digital medium format? Large or small prints? Books or installations, or even video?


Joan_Villaplana_Vinebre_SM

WHO SHOULD APPLY

The workshop is addressed to both students and professionals in the field of photography: Photographers and artists in any field of photography or Publishing Sector. Graduates or students of Fine Arts, Audiovisual Communications, Publicity, Journalism, Art History, or Humanities who want to specialize in the theory and practice of Fine Art Photography. The purpose of the workshop is to introduce assistants to the contemporary aesthetic concepts and their applicability in non-Western contexts. Date: September 7 and September 21, 2015. Duration: 1 day, each


VENUES & PARTNERS:

Shanghai Workshop: Central Studios, 1F, Building 1, 751 South Huangpi Road, Shanghai 200025 China Phone: +86 21 6384 8088 Fax: +86 21 6384 8098 www.centralstudios.cn Pingyao Workshop: Pingyao International Photography Festival (exact venue to be confirmed) Pingyao Festival


Joan Villaplana's workshop in Shanghai

MATRICULATION

Minimum Participants required in each workshop : 7 Maximum Participants: 30 Tuition fee: 300 RMB / $50 / 45 Euros Application Deadline – 31th August 2015 To participate please write to:  a.pacifico@madrid.ied.es


ABOUT JOAN VILLAPLANA

Joan Villaplana Casaponsa (Manresa, Barcelona, 1976) works in photography and video. Graduated from the Universitat Pompeu Fabra of Barcelona in Humanities, he teaches aesthetics and Fine Art Photography in the European Master of Fine Art Photography at IED (Madrid) and IDEP (Barcelona). His work has been exhibited in the China Pingyao International Festival of Photography, The Central European House of Photography (Bratislava), Lumen Foundation (Budapest), Fotofestiwal (Lódz), Kaunas Photo Festival and PhotoIreland. Villaplana’s book Metropolis was a nominee for the best Photobook award in The New York Photo Festival, 2008. He has also contributed in newspapers and magazines such as Le Monde Diplomatique, La Vanguardia, Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, Prensa Libre, Surface, Etiqueta Negra and On Diseño. Joan Villaplana's workshop in Shanghai

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