SELTZ by Ritter Ferrer

SELTZ by Ritter Ferrer is a new contemporary art gallery set to open in April 2025 in a fully renovated space of nearly 400 m² on Balmes Street, 54. The project aims to become a benchmark in the city’s art scene, fostering dialogue between creativity, innovation, and critical thinking.

The gallery embraces an inclusive and dynamic program that combines the freshness of emerging artists with the strength of established careers. The inaugural exhibition, a personal project by Cristina García Rodero curated by Rafa Doctor, marks the beginning of a committed and diverse curatorial line.

SELTZ is characterized by an eclectic vision encompassing disciplines such as painting, sculpture, photography, installation art, digital art, and urban art, offering a plural platform that reflects the aesthetics and concerns of contemporary art.

Under the direction of Lorena Pizarro Durán, a gallerist with 25 years of experience in the sector, and with the artistic guidance of José Luis Pérez Pont — director of the Centre del Carme Cultura Contemporània and the Consortium of Museums of the Valencian Community between 2016 and 2023 — the gallery develops, alongside its exhibition program, a strong cultural agenda that brings the multiple expressions of contemporary art closer to diverse audiences.

Represented artists:

Cristina García Rodero, Miaz Brothers, CACHETEJACK, Mateo Maté, Iván Forcadell, Mónica Jóver Calvo, PICHIAVO, Javier Núñez Gasco, Juan Olivares, AGGTELEK, Francesc Torres, Cristina de Middel.

SELTZ by Ritter Ferrer presents, on the occasion of Barcelona Gallery Weekend, the exhibition 'Cataratas' by renowned photographer and visual artist Cristina de Middel (Alicante, 1975), recipient of the National Photography Prize and former president of Magnum Photos.

Cataratas offers a critical reflection on the way we see—or believe we see—the world, particularly in relation to Africa. A cataract clouds vision, blurs outlines, and turns looking into an uncertain act. In a present saturated with images, where photography has lost its aura of truth and now floats between overexposure and suspicion, de Middel embraces blur as part of the creative process.

The exhibition is structured around a selection of works from several of the artist’s iconic series—The Afronauts, Midnight at the Crossroads, Funmilayo, Mirador, and This is What Hatred Did—which challenge colonial imaginaries, dominant media narratives, and the stereotypes that have historically constrained the representation of the African continent.

Far from offering definitive answers, these images act as fragmentary gestures, open visual questions that point to the limits of our perspective. The “cataract” in the title alludes both to cultural opacity and to the relentless torrent of images that shape our perception. In this context, accepting that limit becomes the first step toward seeing—and understanding—differently.