Aya
Arguiñe Escandón and Yann Gross
Editorial RM
Spanish, English and French
Hardcover
96 Pages
155 x 205 mm
2021
ISBN 9788417975043
Following the path of Charles Kroehle, a pioneering nineteenth-century photographer who supposedly disappeared in the Peruvian Amazon, Arguiñe Escandón and Yann Gross describe an unreal immersion into the dense jungle vegetation, structured by shamanic experiences, and develop a process of organic photography. “Aya” in Quichua language, means: ghost, soul or spirit. Using both ancient and contemporary images, Aya offers a dialogue between two divergent points, the historical representation of the Amazon and one’s own sensory experience.
(source: http://yanngross.com/?page_id=640)
Description of Form
This photobook has a cover that fastens with an embedded snapper. Inside the front cover is a pouch containing a variety of photocopied historical manuscripts and newspaper clippings. Many of the pages in this book have portraits and landscape photographs glued onto the books existing bound page.
About the Artists
Through photography, installation and video, Yann Gross explores, often in offbeat ways, how humanity shapes its environment and develops a sense of identity. His images regularly deal with the construction of the imaginary and a certain desire of escapism. After crossing the Rhone Valley on a moped in search of the American dream in Switzerland (Horizonville), revealing the abstract beauty of avalanches in the Alps (Lavina) and participating in the emergence of skateboard culture in Uganda (Kitintale), Yann moves to Brazil to work on reforestation projects. The time he spends in the forest nourishes his reflections and has a lasting influence on his artistic practice (The Jungle Book & Aya) : since then he divides his time between the Amazon, Spain and Switzerland. He regularly collaborates with various communities and has been involved, among other things, in the creation of audiovisual workshops for Guarani and Kaiowá youth in Mato Grosso, Brazil. His work is exhibited worldwide and published in magazines like Aperture, Colors, Frieze, The National Geographic, The New York Times Magazine, The Sunday Times Magazine, Die Zeit Magazine & Das Magazin among many others.
yanngross.com
(source: http://yanngross.com/?page_id=166)
Arguiñe Escandón (b. Bilbao 1979) work has mostly been linked to psychology. She tackles themes related to the human being and his relationship with personal and social environments. In her last projects she focused on process of vital re-adaptation, change and transformation.
arguiescandon.com
(source: https://arguiescandon.com/about/)
About the Publisher
RM is one of the most prestigious publishers of art books in Latin America, focusing primarily on photography and contemporary art. It also maintains a select catalogue of Latin American literary classics. RM Has published more than 190 titles by or about writers and artists of the international stature of Graciela Iturbide, Myako Ishiuchi, Carlos Amorales, Manuel Álvarez Bravo, Martin Parr, Julio Cortázar, Daido Moriyama, Luis Barragán, Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, Masao Yamamoto, Juan Rulfo, Agustín Jiménez, Marcos López, Jeff Wall, Pablo Ortiz Monasterio, Paolo Gasparini, and León Ferrari.
editorialrm.com
(source: https://www.editorialrm.com/en/about-us/)
