2024-01-10 05:06:11
“My father liked to sit under this oak tree to observe and reflect on his works,” says Luis Chillida. There is something peaceful and calming regarding the place. His gaze wanders a little nostalgically over the hilly green area, where dozens of impressive iron sculptures by Eduardo Chillida (1924-2002) are spread out. He was born 100 years ago today, January 10th.
Actually, the abstract-minimalist works don’t fit into this natural landscape at all. But they enter into a dialogue with nature and the ancient trees in a mysterious and at the same time natural way. The sculptures give the place something magical, almost mystical. And that is exactly what made Chillida one of the most important sculptors of the 20th century.
Like no other artist, he created a very special connection between his work and the place where it is exhibited, says his son Luis. And there is hardly a place where you are more aware of this than here in the “Chillida Leku”, a twelve-hectare open-air museum in Hernani on the northern Spanish Atlantic coast near San Sebastián, with which Chillida realized his own lifelong dream in 2000.
The center of the sculpture park is an old farmhouse from the 16th century, which is used for exhibitions. The exhibition “Universo Maeght” is running here until mid-April, which creates dialogues between Chillida’s works and those of his artist friends such as Alexander Calder, Alberto Giacometti and Joan Miró. But the exhibition is just the beginning of a series of special exhibitions with which Spain will celebrate Chillida well into 2025. From San Sebastián via Bilbao and Valladolid to Menorca, the exhibitions and anniversary events take place all year round.
But Chillida is also celebrated abroad. The Würth Museum Künzelsau is showing “Anthony Caro and Eduardo Chillida” in Germany until October. From March, the Galería de Arte of the University of Santiago de Chile will be highlighting his work, while the San Diego Museum of Art in the USA will be showing “Eduardo Chillida: Covergence” his sculpture and paper works, some of which are already in the art gallery until September 2023 Krems might be seen in the show “Gravitation”.
The anniversary exhibitions should primarily be regarding conveying Chillida’s sensitivity, his creative process, his philosophy of life and art and his values, explains Luis Chillida, President of the Chillida Foundation, in an interview with the APA. It is also regarding showing his moral values and his belief in equality, tolerance and freedom, which are expressed in all his works.
“He was an honest, profound, thoughtful and reflective person. You can see that in each of his works,” says Luis Chillida. He once described himself as an “architect of emptiness” who played with space and volume, light and dark, fullness and emptiness in his monumental and at the same time minimalist-abstract works.
To create his sculptures, he often used materials such as steel, stone and concrete, which have a strong connection to the natural landscape. He often worked with basic shapes such as circles, spheres, cubes and cylinders. “For my father, it was above all important to exhibit his works in public spaces in order to democratize art and make it visible and tangible for everyone,” explains Luis Chillida.
Chillida’s steel sculptures, which weigh several tons, can be seen in public spaces and natural landscapes all over the world this year. From his famous “wind ridges” on the rocky San Sebastián coast to the Olympic Park in Lausanne, Switzerland, to the 90-ton steel “Berlin” sculpture in front of the Berlin Chancellery, which symbolizes separation and reunification at the same time.
Chillida’s minimalist approach and his connection to the natural landscape are still considered a source of inspiration for many contemporary artists today.
(Von Manuel Meyer/APA)
(S E R V I C E – www.museochillidaleku.com)
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