Cristina de Middel's 'Apoteosis Now' at IVAM: A Photographic Explosion

The Institut Valencià d’Art Modern (IVAM) presents 'Apoteosis Now', an exhibition by Spanish photographer Cristina de Middel, running until October. The show features 250 images arranged not by theme or narrative but by color, creating a visual cascade that reflects on the saturation of images in contemporary life. De Middel, who resides in Brazil, deliberately abandoned her usual storytelling approach, citing fatigue with the ubiquity of narrative in everything from art to shampoo. The installation includes a cardboard tower referencing the Tower of Babel and precarious architectures of the Global South, built around a staircase connecting two gallery levels. The display uses grids to impose order on chaos, and the works are drawn from the artist's archive, emphasizing photography's non-functional dimension.