Parque Natural (Nature Reserve) is a series of twelve photographs of nature parks. Or rather, twelve images based on the stereotype of ​​what a nature reserve should look like. They are composed digitally by combining photos of the author’s surroundings, blue chroma key backgrounds, and special effects. Ais constructs nonexistent landscapes through reiterative use of visual codes which originate in art history, mythology and science, and have been transmitted to photographic culture through landscape painting. What we photograph is imbued with the memory of what we have already seen elsewhere.

The series takes an ironic look at these standardised images –the immaculate mountain peak, the bucolic lake with a waterfall, the classic sunset with palm trees– that replicate themselves as if they were a postcard and suggests a critique of the very concept of a nature reserve as an idyllic, encapsulated enclave, as if it were a monumental landscape which has little to do with the environmental reality. Because the image that best represents contemporary nature is neither the iconic summit of the Matterhorn nor the umpteenth tropical sunset, but that of a forest in flames.

Born in Bilbao in 1971, José Ramón Ais is a visual artist. He graduated in Fine Arts from University of Basque Country and pursued doctoral courses in Sculpture at the same university. He also trained in garden design at Itsasmendikoi, an agricultural school under the Basque Government. His work explores and experiments with concepts related to landscape as a construction and representation. He has exhibited in various galleries both nationally and internationally, including the Royal Botanical Garden of Madrid, the BilbaoArte Foundation, PhotoEspaña – Festival Off, the Royal Academy of Spain in Rome, the Biennial of New Artistic Forms at Azkuna Zentroa, the Niemeyer Center in Avilés, La Casa Encendida, the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, the École des Beaux-Arts in Metz, Artium in Vitoria, and Arteleku in San Sebastian, among many others. José Ramón Ais has also curated exhibitions and participated in artist residencies in Iraqi Kurdistan, Huesca, Rome, Havana, and Ghent. He has published the books Prospettiva (Caniche Editorial), Decorativa System On (BilbaoArte), and Dramas en el jardín (Editorial Belleza Infinita).

José Ramón Ais (Bilbao, 1971)
Parque Natural

2025 Edition
Outdoor installation
Venue: Ereaga Gardens