KATI HORNA
Born to Hungarian parents in Spain, Kati Horna lived in Hungary until the age of twenty-one, and it was there she studied photography. She began a professional photography career in Paris, where she contributed to various periodicals. In Spain, during the Civil War of the 1930s, Horna also worked as a photojournalist for a number of publications, including Agence. The defeat of the Republican forces in Spain by Francisco Franco in 1939 sent Horna and her first husband, Spanish artist José Horna, to Mexico, where she remained for the rest of her life. Once in Mexico City, Horna formed a wide circle of friends, including painters Leonora Carrington and Remedios Varo, both of whom had close affinities with the early 20th century surrealist art movement. Although Horna has denied any direct connection to surrealism, her work is frequently noted for the sort of dreamlike elements often associated with it. In addition to cultivating her own art photography, Horna made a living working as a newspaper photographer. Together with Octavio Paz and others, she worked for the magazines Todo, Snob, Mujeres, Nosotros, and Diseño. She became an influential teacher and taught for many years at the Academia de San Carlos, La Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (San Carlos Academy at the National University of Mexico in Mexico City). She died in Mexico on October 19, 2000. The Wittliff Gallery is proud to own twenty-eight of her images so far.
PHOTO from Cuartoscuro September/October 2001