Javier Vallhonrat 's encounter with the pioneering photographs taken in 1853 by the French Viscount Joseph Vigier during his journey in the Pyrenees, coincides in time with the set of projects that the Spanish artist develops around the experience of the high mountains or environments of particular geoclimatology.

In particular, the two photographs that Vigier took of the Aneto and Maladetas glaciers, which are part of the Collection of Museo Universidad de Navarra, will be the starting point of the 42ºN project, developed over 15 months in the Maladeta Massif, in the Aragonese Pyrenees.

The definition of the strategic axes of the project is nourished by elements that the artist finds through his research of Joseph Vigier's work: the accumulation of fragments of experience over numerous itineraries in a high mountain environment, the use of geographical and cartographic data and their insertion in paradoxical contexts and the establishment of a space of representation that is situated between the topographical description of the documentary model and a photographic approach that is both abstract and narrative.

42ºN has meant for the artist to look, literally and metaphorically, towards the place where Vigier directed his gaze in 1853 and to explore that place, simultaneously geographical, phenomenal and of language constitution.

The photographs and videographic pieces that make up the 42ºN project represent for the artist the creation of a space for the investigation of internal phenomena based on representations of an external territory.

Using a methodology of accumulation of data (fragments) of experience as well as quantitative data (geographical, chronometric and cartographic) resulting from observations maintained over time, and their insertion in a paradoxical contextual framework, the artist investigates not so much the phenomena on which he stops his gaze, but the language resulting from these interventions.

Javier Vallhonrat was born in Madrid in 1953.

With a degree in Fine Arts and Psychology, this multidisciplinary artist chooses photography as his privileged means of expression and research, exploring its limits as a language, and making it dialogue with painting, video, performance, word or installation. For almost three decades, this artist has combined the development of his work with a teaching activity that he has taught in public and private institutions in Austria, Belgium, Canada, Spain, France, Finland, Italy, Japan, Mexico and the United Kingdom.

Over the last few years he has worked in high mountain environments where there are particular geoclimatic conditions and processes, carrying out long-term projects that the artist continues to develop today.

The work of this artist has been exhibited in numerous museums and institutions around the world, and can be found in collections such as the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid, the Grand Duc Jean de Luxembourg or the Museum of Modern Art in Philadelphia, among others.

Thirteen monographs of his work have been published, and his work has been recognized with numerous awards, including the National Photography Award, the Photography Award of the Community of Madrid, the Photography Award of the Madrid City Council and the Bartolomé Ros Award of PhotoEspaña.