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The Museum of Contemporary Art of the Basque Country, Artium Museoa presents this exhibition and series dedicated to performative practices. Mechanical Bonds stems from the desire to consider the museum space and the relationships built within it in based on the bodies that inhabit it, attempting to create moments of porosity between the interior and exterior of the building through the varied practices of a number of artists and collectives.
The title of the project is a product of chance, as it is the recently discovered title of a painting by María Paz Jiménez (Valladolid, 1909 – San Sebastian 1975) that until now had been listed as “untitled” (1968) in the museum databases associated with its Collection. The painting is an almost monochrome canvas depicting several abstract forms crowded together as in a sci-fi landscape. The decision was made to replace the frame of the painting for the exhibition Bilduma Hau Collection. Elementary Movements (1950-2000) and the inscription "Lazos mecánicos" (Mechanical bonds) appeared on a piece of tape stapled to the wooden stretcher when the old frame was removed.
Curated by the artist Itziar Okariz and Catalina Lozano.
Supported by:
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July 7
11 am to 2 pm / Improvisationb workshop by Jeremiah Day (15 people)
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July 13
4 pm / A Daily Practice with Works from The Collection. Feldenkrais session by Yael Davids (12 people)
July 14
7 pm / A Daily Practice with Works from The Collection. Feldenkrais session by Yael Davids (12 people)
Everything Near Me is a film installation comprising two chapters. The first explores a variety of affective landscapes that are also related to specific socio-political contexts, those of the Basque Country and California. The second, filmed over two years in the Basque Country, combines everyday scenes with lush landscapes, fleeting moments that shape and sustain life.
Laida Lertxundi is an artist and filmmaker, combining conceptual rigor with sensual pleasure in a process she calls Landscape Plus, her films establish parallels between landscape and the body as centers of pleasure and experience. Her work has been shown at High Line Art, New York (2023), Whitney Biennial, New York, (2012), Hammer Museum (2016), LIAF Biennial (2013), Biennale de Lyon (2013), Frieze Projects New York (2014), MoMA, New York (2022, 2017), y Tate Modern, London (2016) among others. Pedagogy is central to her practice, and she currently teaches at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Lyon.
Ren Ebel is an artist and writer from California. He works in a range of media including video, sound, text and drawing. He received his BFA in film and video art from the University of California, San Diego, and his MFA in studio practice from ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, California. His art has been shown at Gattopardo Gallery in Los Angeles, the Now Instant Image Hall in Los Angeles, the Spectacle Theater in New York and Azkuna Zentroa in Bilbao, Spain. His writing has appeared in a variety of international publications including Artforum, Mousse, X-TRA and Frieze.
This exhibition is organised with the collaboration of MONDRAGON.
The Z Gallery is a space that explores new ways of associating film with art. It is neither a film season in a cinema nor a typical exhibition. It is a project that constructs a third space in the museum from which to visualise and analyse works by artists approaching the cinematographic field and filmmakers exploring the exhibition format. It is a programme that was created to think about the moving image in the museum, introducing authors seeking new narrative forms by questioning the conventions, genres and categorisations that have historically defined cinematographic language.
The exhibition comprises works that span four decades of his production to trace his rigorous research process from expressionism to geometric abstraction
Many of the works, some never seen before, come from the painter’s studio, a collection of documents and works recovered and conserved by his family
The exhibition portrays Rafael Lafuente’s creative personality in a broad and complex light
This exhibition, dedicated to the work of Alejandro Cesarco (Montevideo, Uruguay, 1975), brings together pieces in a variety of media –photographs, videos and text-based works– that proposes reflecting on the construction and experience of learning, as well as on the processes associated with memory, perception and language.
Among them is Index (An Educator), a piece that belongs to a series of works that began with the same title in 2000, which shows Cesarco’s interest in elaborating indexes of imaginary books. To paraphrase the artist, these indexes are conceived as “forms of writing that in turn make up archives of readings”, and they are the product of his interest in classifications, registers and taxonomies, as well as in the processes of constructing and preserving memory. In Otros ejemplos recientes, the artist focuses on questions such as the uses and functions of pedagogy and literacy, in addition to relationships between mother tongue, bilingualism and the complicated ecosystem that generates this situation of “in-betweenness”.
As an adjoining space alongside the exhibition, Alejandro Cesarco is constructing an area to consult writings and authors linked to his practice as a publisher. Among other publications of his, it includes a selection of books published within the framework of Art Resources Transfer (A.R.T.), an independent non-profit organisation committed to documenting and disseminating the work of artists to an often disregarded audience in the circuit of cultural consumption.
Exhibition co-produced by Artium Museoa, Museum of Contemporary Art of the Basque Country and Maumaus/Lumiar Cité (Lisbon).
A convent in Lizaso (Navarra) was home to the eccentric Arco Iris (Rainbow) community in the 1980s. The drab walls of the building were adorned with huge floral motifs and its rooms hosted large gatherings where people experimented with cathartic practices that had a new age tinge. The building today is inhabited by cloistered monks and the traces of that period are almost imperceptible.
The authors of San Simón 62 approach the place attracted by the testimonies of their mothers, who spent time in the Arco Iris community in an attempt to shake off the after-effects of Franco’s regime and confront the personal and political challenges of this new era.
Irati Gorostidi and Mirari Echávarri were neighbors for the first few years of their lives. The change of city separated them until some time later they met again in Bilbao to study Fine Arts. They've been working together ever since.
Mirari Echávarri's latest works have been exhibited at Tabakalera, Artium Museoa, the Navarre Museum and international film festivals, among others.
Irati Gorostidi is developing her first feature film, selected for the 2022 Ikusmira Berriak program. Her previous films have been shown at international festivals and museums.
This exhibition is organised with the collaboration of MONDRAGON.
The Z Gallery is a space that explores new ways of associating film with art. It is neither a film season in a cinema nor a typical exhibition. It is a project that constructs a third space in the museum from which to visualise and analyse works by artists approaching the cinematographic field and filmmakers exploring the exhibition format. It is a programme that was created to think about the moving image in the museum, introducing authors seeking new narrative forms by questioning the conventions, genres and categorisations that have historically defined cinematographic language.
La muestra propone un acercamiento a la figura del cineasta vasco y explora el universo que creó a partir de su incesante experimentación en torno a la imagen
La exposición reúne los principales títulos de su filmografía y pone el foco en la parte menos conocida de esta, junto con muestras de su trabajo como artista gráfico, fotografías y dibujos, entre otros objetos
Una serie de entrevistas realizadas para este proyecto con figuras fundamentales para acercarse a su producción, entre ellos Pedro Almodóvar, Alaska, Jaime Chávarri, Cecilia Roth, Virgina Montenegro o Jaime Stinus, completan este retrato de Zulueta
A collaborative project between Barrutia Ikastola and Artium Museoa
Rubio’s latest film, Clamor [Moan], explores the subject of death according to the burial sites of the “rejected”: suicides, reprisal victims, atheists... Edurne Rubio is a visual artist whose practice extends to performances, films, sound projects and public space interventions. The exhibition also includes archive images and texts connected to some of the sites appearing in the film.
La muestra permite examinar mediante series de trabajos de distintos momentos la producción del artista desde los años 80 hasta el presente. La muestra forma parte de un proyecto curatorial único que se despliega simultáneamente en el Museo Reina Sofía de Madrid y en Artium Museoa
El Museo de Arte Contemporáneo del País Vasco, Artium Museoa, presenta la exposición Néstor Sanmiguel Diest. La peripecia del autómata (Sala A3, hasta el 1 de noviembre de 2022). La exposición presenta cerca de 80 obras, además de una amplia selección de dibujos de sus “cuadernos de trabajo”, que en conjunto ofrecen la oportunidad de examinar la producción del artista desde finales de la década de los 80 hasta el presente. La muestra forma parte de un proyecto curatorial único integrado por dos exposiciones distintas, la de Artium Museoa y la que se presentó el pasado 2 de junio en el Palacio de Velázquez del Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía de Madrid. Con ocasión de esta exposición, ambos museos preparan la edición de una publicación que contará con textos de Beatriz Herráez, comisaria del proyecto y Peio Aguirre, y recogerá una conversación entre Néstor Sanmiguel Diest y Ángel Calvo Ulloa.
La peripecia del autómata despliega series de trabajos ejecutadas en distintos momentos de la trayectoria de Néstor Sanmiguel Diest (Zaragoza, 1949) y dibuja un recorrido que permite adentrarse en la práctica de un autor que se define a sí mismo como un «artista de taller». Junto con piezas de colecciones privadas y del propio autor, la muestra integra cuatro pinturas de la Colección Museo de Arte Contemporáneo del País Vasco: En la penumbra de tu corazón (1994), Los sentimientos no expresados del lehendakari (2004), El arte de esquivar (2004) y La hija del capitán (2004).
Desde los primeros años de su actividad, vinculado a la fundación de colectivos artísticos como A Ua Crag, y el Segundo partido de la montaña, Sanmiguel Diest se presenta como un productor metódico y prolífico que idea de modo ininterrumpido sistemas, reglas y protocolos, que aplica en la construcción de sus piezas. Su obra ingente, principalmente dibujos y pinturas, conforma un catálogo singular en el que se confunden los límites entre imagen y texto, como en un palimpsesto que desvela y oculta al mismo tiempo una sucesión de relatos que interpelan al espectador.
La cronología de la exposición se inicia a finales de los ochenta, momento en el que el artista mantiene una doble ocupación, en su taller y empleado como patronista en una factoría textil, un lugar que no abandona plenamente hasta el año 2000. Del ejercicio de esta profesión derivan la aplicación de una lógica meticulosa y precisa en sus procesos de trabajo y los guiños y referencias persistentes al espacio de la fábrica y a una iconografía militante. Del mismo modo que en la industria, Sanmiguel Diest traslada la jornada laboral, de (al menos) ocho horas al día, a la ejecución de una producción sistematizada en su estudio. Una cadena de montaje transferida al taller del artista en la que es habitual el empleo de troqueles, patrones y matrices en el interior de sus piezas a modo de collages, mediante el frottage y la copia.
En distintas ocasiones, Sanmiguel Diest se ha referido a su práctica como el «oficio de esquivar», una premisa que se materializa en su forma de situarse en la periferia, no solo geográfica, sino también discursiva y material. Este rehuir o alejarse de las narrativas y los debates más extendidos, ha funcionado como táctica y método, generando un pensamiento y un corpus de trabajo que cuestiona y desafía los modos de producción contemporáneos y su organización del tiempo.
Alejado de cualquier convención, su trabajo se sitúa en un campo en el que son frecuentes las referencias a los ámbitos de la historia del arte, la literatura y la música, pero también a lo más cotidiano y ordinario, al incorporar en sus piezas documentos, facturas, fragmentos de textos, notas o páginas de prensa. Se trata de una invitación a pasear por una selva de símbolos, un lugar plagado de silencios expresivos, en una negociación constante con aquello que se agolpa en los márgenes y que, con frecuencia, pasa desapercibido. Una producción que no participa de una interpretación literal del mundo, y que se asienta en una simultaneidad de apropiaciones y citas, como un mecanismo potencialmente infinito y circular que sorprende por su densidad.
Néstor Sanmiguel Diest
El artista vive y trabaja en Aranda de Duero. En el año 1985 fundó en esta localidad, junto a los artistas Rufo Criado, Rafael Lamata o Jesús Max, entre otros, el colectivo de artistas A Ua Crag; también participó en la creación de los grupos Red District o el II Partido de la Montaña. En los 90 inicia una intensa trayectoria individual que inicialmente, hasta finales de esa década, compaginó con su trabajo como patronista en una fábrica textil. Su producción se sustenta en el desarrollo riguroso de complejas tramas visuales y narrativas, obras no exentas de ironía realizadas a partir de minuciosos trazados geométricos y combinaciones de módulos que se repiten de manera sistemática sobre las superficies de las telas y el papel.
Su obra se encuentra en las colecciones del MACBA, MNCARS, MUSAC y Artium Museoa, entre otras entidades, así como en numerosos fondos institucionales y privados. Ha celebrado exposiciones individuales en espacios como el Museo Reina Sofía, el MUSAC de León, Centro Cultural Montehermoso, Galería Maisterravalbuena de Madrid y Trayecto Galería en Vitoria-Gasteiz.
Néstor Sanmiguel Diest. La peripecia del autómata
Sala A3, desde el 24 de junio hasta el 1 de noviembre de 2022
La peripecia del autómata es un proyecto curatorial que se despliega en dos exposiciones simultáneas: una en Madrid, en la sede del Palacio de Velázquez del Museo Reina Sofía, y otra en Vitoria-Gasteiz, en el Museo de Arte Contemporáneo del País Vasco, Artium Museoa.
Documentos para descargar
Nota de prensa (pdf) Lista de obra (pdf) Solicitud de imágenes
In Clamor, Edurne Rubio Barredo’s latest film, the artist depicts places that were used as burial sites for those relegated by the Catholic Church: suicides, babies who died before being baptised, executed people, atheists, passers-by and Protestants. By focusing on the specific history of the province of Burgos, Rubio has gathered together personal stories that are infused by the historical events and processes that have marked the region. The current state of these places reflects the coexistence of life and death and the cohabitation of various species within the territory, thereby questioning the monopoly over the sacred of certain institutions.
Edurne Rubio (1974) is a visual artist based in Brussels working in the fields of exhibitions, performance, film and architecture. Her research work has been associated with individual or collective perception of time and space. Her work is tied to documentary and anthropology, using interviews, archival images and research into oral communication.
Produced in collaboration with MONDRAGON
Linked activity
Screening of Clamor followed by a discussion with Edurne Rubio
Friday July 22, 12 pm
Free entrance
The Z Gallery is a space that explores new ways of associating film with art. It is neither a film season in a cinema nor a typical exhibition. It is a project that constructs a third space in the museum from which to visualise and analyse works by artists approaching the cinematographic field and filmmakers exploring the exhibition format. It is a programme that was created to think about the moving image in the museum, introducing authors seeking new narrative forms by questioning the conventions, genres and categorisations that have historically defined cinematographic language.
Curator: Garbiñe Ortega
© 2023 Artium Museoa.