The Dutch photographer, Viviane Sassen features in one of the highlights of the PHotoESPAÑA 2026 festival with the Lux & Umbra exhibition, which can be seen at the Fernán Gómez Cultural Centre from 3 June to 26 July. This will be the artist’s first solo exhibition in Spain, bringing together more than three decades of creation in a retrospective that provides a poetic reinterpretation of her archive.
This extensive retrospective devoted to Viviane Sassen (Amsterdam, Netherlands, 1972) spans more than three decades of creation and has been designed especially for the festival. In dialogue with the theme for PHotoESPAÑA 2026, Reimagining, the exhibition provides a reinterpretation of her archive that moves away from a chronological structure, unfolding as a poetic installation in which images from different periods, series and techniques coexist freely.
The exhibition brings together some of the artist's most representative works, such as Flamboya or Parasomnia, alongside early photographs taken in Africa and pieces that have been recovered specifically for the festival. This return to her origins highlights the influence of the African continent on her outlook.
In her photography, light and shadow operate as formal and symbolic elements. Shadows become metaphors for memory and uncertainty, while the use of colour, geometric forms and sculptural compositions transform the image into a space in which what is real and imaginary intertwine.
Women occupy a central place in her visual universe. Through them, Sassen explores identity as a process in constant transformation, revealing tensions between vulnerability and strength.
The exhibition also includes new works, such as the collage series, Cadavre Exquis, which extends her visual language and consolidates the exhibition as a visual ecosystem in constant transformation, in which the images dialogue with each other, creating other forms of perception.
Image Credits:
- Viviane Sassen. Eudocimus Ruber, 2017 © Viviane Sassen
- Viviane Sassen. Belladonna, 2010 © Viviane Sassen
- Viviane Sassen. Dazed, 2022 © Viviane Sassen
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