Sikkema Jenkins & Co. is pleased to present an exhibition of black and white vintage photographs from the 1960’s and 70’s by Antonio Caballero. This will be the first exhibition of this work in New York.

Born in Mexico City in 1940, Caballero began practicing photography at an early age. As an adolescent he apprenticed as a photojournalist and soon established himself with his photographs appearing in several well-known Mexican newspapers and magazines.

In 1963 Caballero was introduced to the “world of fotonovelas”, small graphic novels similar to comic books with storyboard format and dialogue bubbles that were popular in Italy, Spain and throughout Latin America from the 1940’s through the 1980’s. Caballero soon committed himself to the production of fotonovelas – a process he considered “filming” in which he acted as producer, adapter, director and photographer. According to his own estimate he made no less than five hundred graphic novels between 1963 and 1978.

The exhibition will feature select photographs from Caballero’s archive. Although meant to be part of a narrative series, it is a testament to Caballero’s talent as a photographer and director that the individual photographs remain powerful on their own. The dramatic mise-en-scènes suggest narratives of love, tragedy, and suspense often found in the graphic novels. To contextualize the individual works, the gallery will also present a series of photos comprising a partial fotonovela narrative.

Caballero’s photographs were most recently exhibited at Media City Seoul 2010, the 6th Seoul International Biennale.