MAST Foundation | 'Apparent Femininity': Alinka Echeverría
MAST Foundation for photography grant on industry and work is a biennial selection of young photographers that aims to document and support image research activities related to industry, the transformation it brings about on society and the environment and the role of labour in economic and productive development.
On October 8th 2020, the MAST Foundation presented the exhibition showcasing the work of the sixth edition finalists of the MAST Photography Grant on Industry and Work, won by Alinka Echeverría. The other finalists were Chloe Dewe Mathews, Maxime Guyon, AapoHuhta and Pablo López Luz.
Apparent Femininity
In the three-part installation work Apparent Femininity, Alinka Echeverría looks back at the role of women in the history of cinema and computer programming, in order to look forward at the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Grace, named after the paradigm-breaking Grace Hopper, is an animation derived from a Berenice Abbott photograph (from the MAST collection) of an anonymous female programmer at work. Presented as an LED curtain, it is accompanied by a music created by the inventor of graphical sound, Daphne Oram.
Hélène, is an installation of glass plate negatives showing solarized images of the hands of female editors.
In Ada the artist pays homage to Ada Lovelace, the mathematician defined by many as the first programmer in history. Through a mosaic of digital collages she reactivates archival imagery and explores the biographies of such pioneers in juxtaposition with women left unnamed, weaved together with archetypal notions of femininity.
Alinka Echeverría is a Mexican-British artist and visual anthropologist working in multiple media. Her work has been widely exhibited, including solo exhibitions at The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Preus Museum (Norway’s National Museum of Photography), the Johannesburg Art Gallery, Arles’ Les Rencontres de la Photographie and The California Museum of Photography.
