'Light Years' by Graham MacIndoe: a photographic journey through 20 years of The National's career

Matadero Madrid, center of contemporary creation of the Area of Culture, Tourism and Sport, presents, in collaboration with Dimad, the exhibition Light Years. The National by Scottish photographer Graham MacIndoe. The exhibition brings together forty black and white photographs of one of the world's most prestigious independent music bands and can be visited free of charge at Matadero Madrid's Central de Diseño from June 2 to 30, as part of the Area of Culture's European Music Day program.

Graham MacIndoe will visit Madrid to offer a master class at Central de Diseño on Tuesday June 7 at 11:00h. To participate in this free activity it is necessary to register on the website www.dimad.org. That same day at 19:00h there will be a meeting with the artist at the exhibition.

An unpublished look at one of the most powerful independent bands of the 21st century
It's been more than two decades since Scottish photographer Graham MacIndoe met a group of musicians and graphic designers in New York who had formed a rock 'n' roll band at a time when every young person in the Big Apple was forming bands of all kinds. They called themselves The National. This band is now one of the best known musical groups in the world. They headline festivals, fill venues that once seemed reserved for the great monsters of the musical universe, are loved by music lovers around the world and adored by critics. 

In Light Years, Graham MacIndoe presents the most ambitious look ever taken at one of those bands that transcends time and space: twenty years of photos in which the most powerful indie band of the 21st century bares its music, laughs, dances and plays in front of thousands of fans. Forty black and white photographs that trace the path of five friends from Cincinnati who one day decided they wanted to break away from the usual. In MacIndoe's photos you can feel the enormous heartbeat of the band, the sweat of the fans and the passion that unites them. The exhibition will include, in addition to these photographs, the iconic book from which the exhibition arises as well as various materials MacIndoe has been collecting over the years as picks, setlists, merchandising or tickets. An unpublished exhibition, which can be seen for the first time and exclusively in Madrid, conceived to honor those who love music and those who immortalize it.

Graham MacIndoe was born in Edinburgh, was a student of painting and later graduated in photography at the Royal Art College in London. An associate professor at Parsons School of Design, he has exhibited his work at the National Gallery of Scotland, MoMA in New York and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, among others. His photographs have been published in The New York Times, The Guardian, New York Magazine, Financial Times, Harpers Bazaar, Rolling Stone, I.D. or Vice, among other publications. A tireless fighter for social rights, his project Exile, about families divided by deportation, as well as Beyond Addiction, where he recounts his own journey from addiction to full recovery, are considered iconic works in the field of American photography. MacIndoe has followed The National around the world and his photographs of the band now belong to the collective musical unconscious of the 21st century.

LIGHT YEARS. THE NATIONAL
An exhibition by Graham MacIndoe
From June 2 to June 30 at Matadero Madrid's Central de Diseño.
Organized by Matadero Madrid in collaboration with Dimad
In the framework of the program of the European Day of Music 2022 of the Culture Area of the Madrid City Council.
Curated by: Toni Garcia Ramon and Gema Polanco
Exhibition design: Maria Ona
Production: La Milk

Master Class by Graham MacIndoe
Tuesday June 7th at 11:00h
Matadero Madrid Design Center 
Free registration 

Meeting with Graham MacIndoe
Tuesday June 7th at 19:00h
Matadero Madrid Design Center
Free access until full capacity is reached

More information comunicacion@mataderomadrid.org and prensa@dimad.org