«Ornithographies. Tracks in the sky» is the first solo exhibition of the artist Xavi Bou in galleria SENDA. For the occasion, he presents 15 of his famous “Ornithographies”, photographs that capture the flight path of birds. His works tangible samples of the balance between art and science, are witnesses of the moments that were past, present and future in the flight of these birds.

Bou’s purpose is, through an exercise of visual poetry, to spread the importance of caring for the environment by inviting viewers to perceive the world with the same curious and innocent gaze of the child we once were. The approach Bou uses to portray the scenes of his “Ornithographies” is not invasive. In fact, he rejects distant study, resulting in images of organic forms that stimulate the imagination.

The photographs capture the flight of very diverse birds in different parts of Catalonia, Spain and even abroad, with a work captured in Uist (Scotland). With photographs taken in coastal places such as Roses, the Illes Medes or Tarifa; as well as in inland places such as Tremp, Monfragüe or Medina-Sidonia; Bou manages to trace that invisible trace to the human eye that birds create when flying through the sky.

His work has been published in international press such as National Geographic, The Guardian, Der Spiegel, Geo and Sonntag, among many other publishers. In addition, he has exhibited “Ornithographies” in solo exhibitions in Germany, Belgium, Russia, Spain, Canada, France, Mexico and Greece, among other places in the world. In fact, after the success of his project, in 2023 his “Ornitographies” were published in a book of the same name by Lynx Edicions.

Currently, Bou has initiatives underway that explore other artistic resources and disciplines, such as video, as well as other subjects of study, such as insects. Therefore, the raw material of his work continues to be nature and his personal challenge is to show it in an innovative and aesthetic way that helps the public to approach art and, above all, to raise awareness about the environment.

“Xavi Bou sees himself as a “curator” who tracks down the choreography of birds and makes it visible.” Very rarely, therefore, landscapes or cloud formations in the sky remain visible on the monochrome image backgrounds at the bottom of the picture and may hardly contribute to deciphering the actual image subject without relevant background knowledge.

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– Uta M. Reindl.  Professor, translator, critic and art curator