The Institut français in Madrid hosts Isabel Muñoz’s “Fuerte Fuerte” (“Strong Strong”) exhibition from May 20 to July 10. This immersive exhibition brings together some of the artist’s most emblematic series and explores the body, ritual, and memory through different cultures. The exhibition, which can be visited at the Galerie du 10 of the Institut français de Madrid (Calle del Marqués de la Ensenada, 10, 28004 Madrid) until July 10, 2026, coincides with the 40th anniversary of Isabel Muñoz’s first exhibition at the Institut français de Madrid in 1986.
40 Years of a Singular Photographic Language
During the exhibition tour organized by the Institut français for the opening, curator Anne Morin highlighted the retrospective and conceptual nature of the show. Far from a conventional chronological approach, “Fuerte Fuerte” proposes a dialogue between Isabel Muñoz’s major series, which document more than four decades of travels and encounters around the world—Japan, Cuba, El Salvador, Congo, Ethiopia, among others—to reveal the profound coherence of her photographic language. “If we saw images by Isabel Muñoz without knowing they were hers, we would recognize them perfectly,” stated the curator, emphasizing the existence of a common thread running through four decades of work.
She explained that she had access to the artist’s personal archive, which allowed her to incorporate previously unseen images into the exhibition. These pieces, described as Isabel Muñoz’s “private and intimate laboratory,” offer a second level of interpretation within the exhibition: the image before the image, the preceding instant that reveals the photographer’s gaze in all its depth.
“My first exhibition was here, on these very walls”
Isabel Muñoz recalled. She recounted how in 1986 she climbed the stairs of the Institut français in Madrid to present her first platinum prints in what was then the building’s old infirmary, with its 20×20 cm tiles typical of a hospital. “You can imagine the excitement,” said the artist.
Muñoz described how France was crucial in the international recognition of her work. It was Chantal Grande, a French collector and gallery owner based in Tarragona, who encouraged her to enter the Mois de la Photo in Paris at a time when it was still possible to knock on a door with a portfolio and show your work directly. It was there that an editor saw her platinum prints and declared: “This work needs to be studied.” Although a Parisian gallery rejected exhibiting an unknown artist at the last minute, Isabel Muñoz found space in a decoration shop where critic Patrick Roger awarded her three stars, an exceptional distinction for a living photographer, which catapulted her international career.
The artist paid a moving tribute to Christian Caujolle, journalist, exhibition curator, and photography historian, former director of the Rencontres d’Arles and former head of photography at Libération, an essential figure in the defense of Spanish photography worldwide—along with names like Alberto, Chema, Virgilio, and Ricardo Terré, among many others—who passed away in October 2025. The exhibition’s title, “Fuerte Fuerte” (Strong, Strong), is precisely a tribute to him: it was his usual way of saying goodbye. Muñoz also took the opportunity to celebrate the 40th anniversary of her first major recognition in the press, thanks to Alfonso Armada in El País.
A new project: Philip II and the Library of El Escorial
During the meeting, Isabel Muñoz announced her next artistic project, focused on Philip II and the Library of El Escorial, which will be presented at PHotoESPAÑA under the title “The Stones of Heaven.” She described a passionate research project that has led her to uncover a complex historical figure, surrounded by characters such as Arias Montano, Father Sigüenza, and Juan de Herrera, and an intellectual court that protected Arabic and Hebrew knowledge behind the back of the Inquisition.
The resulting exhibition (planned for the year of the fifth centenary of Philip II’s birth) will be organized around four thematic floors, with images printed on mortar, display cases with original manuscripts, and unique objects that seek to convey the excitement of discovery. “I am a storyteller. I tell the story that has fascinated me,” Muñoz explained.
