Chillida: thinking about space and graphics

Saragossa,

Meanwhile, for a year now, the Goya Museum in Zaragoza has been undergoing expansion works – which will allow it to open to the Plaza del Pilar, with a stone façade that will reflect different scenes from his engravings, and the provision of a double height in its temporary exhibition hall -, the Ibercaja Foundation, to which this center belongs, has decided to dedicate its major exhibition project this autumn to Eduardo Chillida, joining the commemoration of the centenary of his birth.

With the collaboration of the City Council of the Aragonese capital, the Eduardo Chillida-Pilar Belzunce Foundation and Chillida Leku, this institution presents in the Lonja de Zaragoza the exhibition “Eduardo Chillida. Dreaming of space”, which can be visited until February 2026. It houses nearly one hundred and twenty works by the artist, in very different techniques: from sculptures in various materials and in small and large formats to portraits, drawings and graphic compositions.

The tour begins with its smaller sculptures, which allow a more intimate and direct relationship with the viewer. They are made of plaster, alabaster, wrought iron, wood or reinforced concrete, but those molded with chamotte earth stand out, like the well-known Lurrak: compact and solid blocks of clay that the Gipuzkoan creator barely manipulated and that offer different shades depending on the time they remain in the wood oven.

Eduardo screeches. Dream space. Zaragoza Market. Photography: Chus Marchador. Courtesy of Ibercaja Foundation

As for the largest pieces, up to two meters high, they connect in a powerful way with the architecture and the environment: Chillida was interested in investigating, based on them and their cavities, the management of light and space. In these creations, the materials seem capable of expressing themselves; In some cases, they contribute to generating a sensation of spectacularity regardless of the dimensions of these works: we refer to Iru burni III either Advice to space VImade of Corten steel, and Harry V either Reliefin granite.

A representation of the series has also arrived in Zaragoza. The deep is the airwhich alludes to a poem by his friend Jorge Guillén. We must not forget that Chillida himself defined himself as architect of the void; His interest in it becomes more clearly evident in the alabaster pieces: solid forms with carved windows through which rays of light penetrate. The diffuse lighting that makes its way into this provocative gap draws the public’s attention to the carved space and articulates an evident contrast with the solidity of the form that surrounds it. For him, in short, space and air were as important as the stone itself.

As for his graphic work, the other great center of development of his plastic thought, to which he did not give a preparatory meaning but rather an autonomous one, we will be able to contemplate in the Lonja the Sketch for the Plaza de los Fueros in Vitoria either freedom cage and a selection of his geometric drawings or his engravings made in ink, charcoal or sanguine. They clearly relate to the sculptures themselves, along with other works that represent their well-known open or clasped hands trying to capture the volume and space, as well as the energy of the work they do.

We will also see collages (with torn and cut papers) and the series Gravitationswhite and ink, developed since 1985. They are also associated with his sculptures, illuminating a third dimension thanks to the cuts that make them up.

The most figurative side of the exhibition is provided by his deep and expressive portraits, which represent his wife and children and himself.

“Soñar el Espacio” brings to a close the activities for Chillida’s centenary, which have taken place inside and outside Spain and were conceived to bring the figure of the sculptor closer to a wide audience, of different origins and generations.